MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 109 



The wicks of these candles are made very fine, the high illuminating power 

 of the stearic acid enabling a fine wick to give far more light than the coarse 

 wick of the common " clip." Again, the particular twist given to the wick 

 when it is plaited, and the wire with which it is bound, causes it to project 

 from the flame when burning. Palmer's candle-wicks are twisted upon each 

 other, the relaxation of the twist as it burns answering the same end, the 

 projection of the burning cotton through the flame and into the air, which 

 immediately oxidizes it, or causes it to crumble away, thus obviating the 

 necessity of snuffing. Here we see an extraordinary example of the manner 

 in which a very simple improvement will sometimes interfere with a very 

 large trade, the simple plaiting of a wick doing away with one of the most 

 extensive branches of hardware in Birmingham and Sheffield. 



The candles are sent forth into the market in pound packets, packed in 

 highly ornartiental boxes. The manufacture of these boxes is not the least 

 interesting part of the manufactoiy. In consequence of the duty on paper, 

 it was necessary to look about for some cheap substitute, and deal was finally 

 adopted. A plank 1 foot wide by 4 long, is planed into no less than 140 

 shavings of that size; these are pasted on one side with a very thin straw 

 paper, so as to form the hinges for the sides. They are cut out by a machine 

 to the required sizes, and rapidly made up afterwards by hand, the cost being 

 truly insignificant. For the manufacture of the night-light cases, the shav- 

 ings are rolled into a cylinder, pasted, and then cut off to the required lengths 

 in a hand-lathe. Once a Week. 



CUTTING FILES BY MACHINERY. 



At a recent meeting of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London, 

 a machine for cutting files, the invention of M. Bcrnot, of Paris, was exhib- 

 ited and described by Mr. Greenwood, of Leeds. 



He said the chisels could cut five times as many files as by hand, without 

 being resharpencd. The teeth cut on the files were raised with perfect regu- 

 larity, and were fully better than those made on hand-made files. Twelve of 

 such machines are now in operation at Douai, France, one in Brussels, Bel- 

 gium; and the relative cost for cutting files by them was eight cents per 

 dozen; by hand, sixty-four cents. Mr. Greaves, who was present, said he 

 had been engaged in file-cutting for twenty-five years, and he could state 

 that this machine could cut as good files as those made by hand, if it Avere 

 well attended. It was also stated that various such machines had been tried 

 both in America and England, none of which had been so successful as the 

 one of M. Bernot. In most of the machines heretofore made, the idea elim- 

 inated in them was an iron hand holding a chisel, and an iron hammer 

 striking blows on it. The vibration of the chisel, by this mode, caused 

 irregularity in the teeth. In the new machine, the blow is given by the 

 pressure of a flat steel spring pressing upon the top of a vertical slide, at the 

 lower end of which the chisel is firmly fixed. This slide is actuated by a 

 cam, which makes about a thousand revolutions per minute, and obviates 

 all irregular vibrations. 



EEAUCIIL-'S MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING CIGARS. 



The principle of this machine, the invention of Louis B.^iuehe, of Paris, 

 France, consists in rolling the pieces of tobacco-leaf between two elastic 



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