40 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



iron, having an edge turned up, which fits the enlarged part of the 

 end, and is, after being fitted, brazed in its place. 



The machinery may be varied by using two lower rollers, instead 

 of one, the three being so geared together as to produce a like motion 

 of their peripheries, or as nearly as possible, taking the medium of 

 their diameter. A third machine for the same purpose consists of two 

 blocks, having semicircular cavities, opposed to each other, and which 

 are drawn together or expanded by means of right and left hand 

 screws on a shaft ; the plate, having been partially bent, is introduced 

 between the two blocks, and, by drawing them together, completes 

 nearly the entire circle. The hollows or cavities of these blocks are 

 of the same barrel form, and, in order to press the bent plate into 

 them, the patentee employs a shaft, concentric with the hollow 

 blocks, carrying between two crank-arms and a barrel-shaped roller ; 

 after the plate has been partially formed, the shaft is caused to rotate, 

 by which the roller will be rolled round the interior surface of the 

 vessel under formation, causing it to be compressed into the cavitv in 

 the blocks. Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal, Jan. 



* 



IMPROVEMENTS IN WIRE-ROPE. 



THE London Mining Journal for June 1 contains a description 

 of some improvements in the manufacture of wire-rope, the in- 

 vention of Mr. James B. Wilson. The first improvement consists 

 in winding the wire, as it comes from the ordinary draw-plates, on to 

 blocks revolving in opposite directions. By this means, when the 

 wires are made into ropes, the ropes have no tendency to twist, be- 

 cause the wires, being wound in opposite directions, counteract one 

 another. The next feature consists in forming flat wire-ropes, by 

 causing several series of wires, or wire-strands, to be braided together, 

 so as to form, without stitching, a fiat rope, which may be made of any 

 requisite degree of elasticity, by varying the angle at which the wires 

 are laid. The next improvement consists in the mode of making 

 ropes, which are particularly applicable for standing rigging of ships, 

 as they can be made elastic enough without the aid of India-rubber or 

 spiral springs. This is done by coiling two or more layers of wire in 

 opposite directions, so as to form a compound strand. The spaces 

 between the wires and between the strands may be filled up with 

 gutta-percha, hemp, or other matters, to diminish the wearing of the 

 wires. 



SEWING-MACHINE. 



MR. W. C. WATSON, of Patterson, N. J., has invented a sewing- 

 machine which produces work of a very superior character. It uses 

 two threads to form the stick, one by a shuttle and the other by a 

 needle, the motion of the two being regulated to form a lock-stitch, 

 which will not rip out. It makes one stitch during the forward and 

 another during the backward motion of the shuttle. Scientific Ameri- 

 can, Aug. 10. 



