MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 87 



water-iii'oof clothing. As a varnish or paiut for protecting iron 

 or wood, or for coating ships' bottoms, it is said to be admirably 

 adapted, as it dries rapidly, in fifteen or twenty minutes, and ad- 

 heres with singular tenacity. As a cement for uniting substances, 

 such as wood with iron, or wood with wood, it is very effective, 

 and has similar properties to the marine glue made from India- 

 rubber and shellac. Singularly enough, linoleum can also be 

 vulcanized or hardened by exposure to heat. By tliis means it is 

 made as hard as the hardest woods, and rendered capable of re- 

 ceiving a high i^olish without the aid of varnish or any other 

 extraneous substance. In this condition it can be filed, planed, 

 or turned as easily as wood, and employed in many of tlie vari- 

 ous ways for which wood is used. Or it can be moulded in heated 

 dies to any desired form, as, for example, flax-spinners' bosses, 

 sheaves for ships' blocks, surgical-instrument handles, picture 

 frames, mouldings, veneers to imitate marble, ivory, ebony, and 

 other woods. Combined with emeiy, it forms a grinding-wheel 

 having extraordinary cutting or abrasive power. Very dissim- 

 ilar are some of the uses to which the new substance can be 

 applied. Carriage-aprons, cart-sheeting, sail-covers, reticules, 

 tarpauling, printers' blankets, gas-pipes, telegraph supports, 

 washable felt carpets, table-covers, paints for carriages or for 

 printing floor-clotli, or enamels of any color for enameling pa- 

 pier-mache or metals. These are only some of the many uses to 

 whicli linoleum may be apjilied. 



The manufacture has, however, hitherto been chiefly confined 

 to the develoj^ment of the floor-clotli trade, for whicli the new 

 material has proved itself well adapted. Linoleum floor-cloth is 

 produced by combining the linoleum with ground or powdered 

 cork, which is rolled on to a stout canvas, the back of the canvas 

 being afterward water-proofed with a cement or varnish made 

 from the solidified or oxydized oil, before referred to. The com- 

 bined fabric so manufactured is then printed by means of blocks, 

 in every variety of pattern, in the ordinary way. The floor-cloth 

 thus pi'oduced is pliable, and comiJaratively noiseless to walk ujion. 

 It washes well, preserves its color, and can be rolled up like any 

 ordinary cai-pet. Besides being very durable, — the comjjoncnt 

 parts being almost indestructible except by fire, — it will not de- 

 compose by heat or exposure to the sun or air, as is the case with 

 India-ruljber. It is therefore better adapted than that substance 

 for hot climates. To the chemist, engineer, and manufacturer, 

 linoleum ofters quite a new substance for experiment; and, no 

 douljt, as it becomes better known, the various uses to which it 

 may be applied will be more fully developed and appreciated. 

 The patentees, we understand, are prepared to grant licenses for 

 the manufacture of some of its applications, such as varnishes, 

 cements, and the hard compounds above mentioned. Important 

 results may, therefore, follow the introduction of this new and 

 valuable substance." — Mechanics' Magazine. 



