TRANSACTIONS OP THE SECTIONS. 12t 



tion of three to one, so that the valve makes only one revolution in the same time that 

 the crank takes to revolve thrice. The valve is a plain disc, perforated with three 

 apertures or steam-ways, heneath which, in the face of the seat upon which the valve 

 works, are also four steam-ways, two each for the right aud left-hand cylinders. The 

 valve in its rotatory motion is so constructed, that the steam-ways through it pass 

 over those in the seat, giving (during the time it takes to pass) free access to the 

 steam from the chest to the cylinders alternately above and below the piston. Like 

 the slide-valve, it is chambered, and the steam escapes to the exhaust-pipe or the 

 condenser as in ordinary engines. 



Reversing is effected by a lever and sliding- box, each end of the box having a slot, 

 one of which is straight, the other diagonal, the length of each being equal from point 

 to point on the box longitudinally, the transverse distance of the diagonal being one- 

 sixth the circumference of the box. Through these slots are pins or drivei-s, made 

 fast to the valve-spindle, which keep the box in its position, allowing it to move up 

 and down when the lever is lifted or pressed, the spindle being in two parts and 

 forming a junction immediately between these pins in the centre of the box. By 

 moving the lever up or down, the spindle on which the diagonal slot is placed alters 

 its relative position to the other with the straight slot : thus the valve is carried round 

 one-sixth of its circumference, thereby changing the position of the steam-ways and 

 reversing the engine. 



The arrangements of the patent valve reduce the working parts, render the engine 

 more simple, lessen the friction, so obtaining a saving of power and rendering less 

 fuel necessary ; and as there are fewer working parts, the wear and tear will be dimi- 

 nished, and less oil, tallow, waste and labour required. 



Both cylinders will receive and cut off the steam at the same point. Another im- 

 portant advantage of the patent valve is the mode of working the steam expansively 

 and cutting it off at any point of the stroke, the valve requiring no additional power 

 to work it. The cost of the patent engine will be less than that of those now in use ; 

 consisting too, as it does, of little more than cylinders and cranks, it will be much less 

 liable to get out of order, and will occupy less room. A singular advantage is the 

 great ease with which it may be reversed when the steam is full on, for the engineer 

 by the use of a single lever can regulate to a nicety the quantity required, and ease, 

 stop, or reverse at pleasure. 



On certain Improvements in the Construction of Steam Ships, Life-boats, and 

 other Vessels ; also in Steam-Boilers, Propellers, Anchors, Windlasses, and 

 Metallic Casks. By Richard Roberts, C.E. 



On Recent Improvements in Machines for Tilling Land. 

 By Bernard Samuelson, Banbury. 



The plough, which has so long been the principal, and will probably remain for a 

 long time to come a most valuable implement of husbandry, has (among others) this 

 inconvenience, that whilst it loosens and reverses the top soil, it compresses the bottom 

 of the furrow in its progress. A partial remedy was applied to this evil at consider- 

 able expense by the use of the subsoil plough, which bursts the ground immediately 

 below the furrow. 



It has been sought to avoid the use of the plough entirely, in those cases where the 

 complete inversion is not needed, and hence the introduction of various pulverizers, 

 grubbers, &c., which have of late been used, no longer as auxiliaries, but as principals 

 in cultivation. For the same reason digging with the spade or fork, hitherto confined 

 to the operations of the gardener, has been practised recently with great success by 

 many farmers, amongst whom may be mentioned Mr. Mechi on the larger, and the 

 Rev. S. Smith, of Lois Weedou, on a more experimental scale. Horse and hand- 

 hoeing are becoming more regular every year, not merely for the purpose of destroy- 

 ing weeds, but also of exposing fresh particles of soil to decomposition, thus con- 

 stantly increasing and renewing the supply of food at the disposal of the growing 

 crop. Not content with these amplifications of the use of the accustomed farming 



