1821.] 



New Patents dnd Meehanical Inventions. 



547 



tfaed in the iaterior part of Aft-ica. The 

 warp being extended by some slight kiud 

 ofraachiuery, the woof was passed across 

 it, and then twisted every two threads of 

 the warp together, before the second pas- 

 sage of the filling. This seems to have 

 been the first rnde method of weaving in 

 Asia, Africa, and America. The second 

 envelope of the mummies is a kind of net 

 •work, of coarse threads, formed of very 

 small loose meshes, in which were fixed 



the feathers of various kinds of birds, so as 

 to make a perfectly smooth surface, lyin? 

 all in one direction. The art of this tedious, 

 but beautiful manufacture, was well under- 

 stood in Mexico, and still exists on the 

 north-west coast of America, and in the 

 islands of the Pacific Ocean. In those 

 isles it is the state or court dress. The 

 third and outer envelope of these mummies 

 is either like the one first described, or it 

 consists of leather sewed together.' 



NEW PATENTS AND MECHANICAL INVENTIONS. 



Reported by Charles Bi^vkt, Draughtsman of Machinery, and London Agent to Patentees 

 and the Authors of Inventions v>ho desire to secure them by Patent. 



To Major Peter Hawker, of Long 

 Parish House., near Andover, Hants, 

 for a machine to assist in the attain- 

 ment of proper performance on the 

 Piano-forte, or other keyed instru- 

 ments. 



THE machine constituting this in- 

 vention, consists of a supporting 

 rod placed horizontally in front of the 

 keys of a piano-forte ; the hands of the 

 performer are supported on this rod, in 

 a little mould or frame, which slides 

 lo and fro on it, the rod is made either 

 of wood or metal, and in its figure, 

 either cylindrical or otherwise ; it is 

 mounted on pieces or supports, which 

 are screwed on to the front of the bot- 

 tom board of the instrument: the whole 

 Is capable of adjustment as to height 

 and distance from the keys, the length 

 being about the same as the front of the 

 instrument, and of sufficient strength 

 ■to support the hands without inflection. 

 A pair of frames or moulds for the 

 hands to rest in for the purpose of guid- 

 ing the fingers, are made of wood, leather 

 or papier-mach^e, carved or moulded to 

 the form of the under part of the right 

 and left hands, from the wrist to the 

 extent of the knuckles; they are smooth 

 on the under side for the pui-pose of 

 sliding on the rod. and are attached to 

 the hands by straps passing over the 

 back of the hand round the wrist, and 

 which buckle on, — the interior of the 

 mould corresponds exactly with the 

 shape of the fleshy part of the inside of 

 the hand, and are therefore carefully 

 modelled, and an assortment of moulds 

 of a variety of shapes and form are pro- 

 vided to fit the hands of different per- 

 sons ; different moulds are also prepared 

 for the same persons, to facilitate the 

 performance of open or close passages 

 in the music ; such aschords or octaves, 

 in wliich the fingers require to be ex- 

 tended, or in such as in which the 

 BOfej follow close after each other in 



succession. The patentee observes that 

 the great and important use of the 

 moulds, is not so much to influence the 

 position of the fingers, as that of the 

 wrist generally. 



To John Heard, of Birmingham, in 

 the County of Warwick, for an in- 

 vention of certain improvements in 

 Cooking Apparatus. 

 This invention consists in the con- 

 struction of a stove or fire-place for the 

 purposes of baking, boiling, roasting, 

 &c. as well as for heating the apart- 

 ment, with a very small consumption 

 of fuel, and is as well adapted to ships 

 as to dwelling houses. It is intended 

 to be insulated, or stand in the middle 

 of a room without brick work, the 

 frame or case is of cast or sheet-iron, or 

 other plates of metal, screwed or rivet- 

 ted together, and standing on feet to 

 admit a current of air passing under it. 

 The patentee considers the essential 

 part of his invention to be in that con- 

 struction of his appai-atus which affords 

 the portability of form, the facility of 

 dismemberment, and the means of re- 

 moving it in detail from place to place, 

 and which allows it to be fitted together, 

 without the aid of tools or the necessity 

 of brick-work. 



To Thomas Hancock, of Pulteney- 

 street. Golden-square, London, for a 

 Discovery that by the Application of 

 a Certain Material to Certain Arti- 

 cles of Dress, the same may be ren- 

 dered more Elastic. 

 The patentee explains by his specifi- 

 cation, that the material he uses for this 

 purpose is casutchouc, or what is deuo- 

 minated India rubber, in strips of form 

 and substance suited to the several 

 purposes. He applies such strips to the 

 close fitting of gloves, by forming in 

 the wrist of the glove, a canal or pipe, 

 into which a small strip of this elastic 

 material is introduced, occupying the 

 entire circumfeience of the passage 

 without 



