610 ANNUAL R-ECORD OE SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



of phosphorus bronze wore for about nine months. This ma- 

 terial has also been applied with great advantage not only 

 in the making of pinions, but in the driving axes of mills; 

 in the latter case the superiority seeming to depend not on 

 the hardness, but on the very great resistance of the alloy, 

 the arbors in the phosphorus bronze twisting much less than 

 those made of forged iron, and not being liable to break like 

 those of cast iron. 3 J^, Jif^y 26, 1873, 101. 



MACHINE FOR MAKING SMALL WOODEN BOXES. 



A machine has lately been invented in England for facili- 

 tating the manufacture of small wooden boxes, varying from 

 nine to twenty-four inches in length, and of a corresponding 

 depth. The machine is capable of being adjusted so as to 

 cut simultaneously three V-shaped grooves in a board, and 

 to bevel the edge so that it can be readily bent round at 

 these joints until the groove is closed, when the sides are 

 fastened by glue or by a few nails, thus producing the four 

 sides of a box, which is completed by nailing on the bottom 

 and top. This machine and its mode of working were 

 exhibited at the Vienna Exposition. Jour, Soc. Arts, June 

 27,1873,630. 



CONVERSION OF YOUNG HORN INTO GELATINE. 



According to a contemporary, the soft, spongy horns of the 

 deer, when they have sprouted about a foot or more from the 

 skull, are collected, in Alaska, and when thoroughly dried are 

 exported to China, where they are made into a highly prized 

 jelly. The deer referred to are probably the reindeer, as it 

 would be extremely difficult to obtain a sufficient number 

 from the wild species in Alaska to serve the purpose of a reg- 

 ular trade. 2 ^, Jw/y 5, 1873, 11. 



FIRE-PROOF POWDER-CHESTS. 



Tests have recently been made by the English government 

 in regard to a new construction of powder-chests, with such 

 a satisfactory result as to render it not impossible that they 

 may be adopted at least for the retail trade. These chest* 

 are apparently similar to the ordinary fire arid burglar proof 

 safes, with unusually thick walls, composed of four-inch cham- 

 "bersjpUed with Sfiwclii^t and alum. On exposure to heat the 



