442 ANNUAL KECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



them, the waste is reduced to a minimum. The advantaires 

 claimed for this system are that, being self-acting, it entirely 

 dispenses with manual labor, which at some critical moment 

 is apt to be at fault; that its certainty of instantaneous ac- 

 tion is secured by the concealment of its working parts, and 

 their protection from wet and dust ; and, finally, that the ex- 

 pense of application is comparatively small. 3 ^, VI., 16. 



A NEW MOTOR FOR SMALL MACHINES. 



By a recent invention of Schneider, of Vienna, the applica- 

 tion of steam as a motor for small machines, it is said, has 

 been rendered perfectly successful. The apparatus is small 

 and noiseless ; and, considering the fuel consumed and attend- 

 ance required, as well as the first cost, it is claimed that it 

 affords the cheapest possible power for small machines, while, 

 on account of the diminished size of the boiler, it is available 

 any where, without any alterations in the buildings, as in the 

 foundations, chimneys, etc. Pending the application for a 

 patent, full details can not be given ; but a chief feature is 

 that the water is carried back from the cylinder into the 

 boiler in such a way that a boiler of not quite twenty-one 

 gallons capacity afibrds steam of four horse-power. 5 C', II., 

 1876,15. 



NEW OIL-CAR. 



The present method of transporting oil in tanks to the sea- 

 board involves the necessity of returning the tank cars empty 

 which means so much dead loss in freight to the transporting 

 companies. A new tank car has lately been invented, whicli 

 is designed to get over this objection by swinging the tank 

 underneath a platform, which can be used as an ordinary 

 gondola car for carrying freight on the return trip. If found 

 successful in practice, the new design should materially lessen 

 the cost of transporting oil to the seaboard. 



A NEW PLAN OF ELEVATED RAILROAD. 



An experiment was lately tried at the works of the Phoe- 

 nix Iron Company, at Phoenixville, Pa., with a new form of 

 elevated railway, which is claimed to possess decided advan- 

 tages. In view of the general interest manifested in the 

 rapid-transit problem, the following brief description of the 



