New Palenls and Mechanical Tnvrntions. 



ises.] 



upon every square inch of ils sur- 

 face. 



The consequence of working the 

 engine at a pressure greater than it is 

 calculated to sustain, would he, tliat 

 the bulb must rend open, and the steam 

 blow out through the fracture, which 

 has been repeatedly done ; and here a 

 most singular effect is observable : in- 

 stead of the steam, as it escapes, scald- 

 ing, it is only warm, not hot, — a property 

 attendant upon steam raised to a very 

 high temperature, which is not gene- 

 rally known, and the theory of which 

 is still less understood; some experi- 

 ments, however, have been made, 

 which tend greatly to explain the 

 cause of this phenomenon. — London 

 Journal of Arts. 



Improvements in Church and Turret 

 Clocks, for which the Society of Arts 

 , has bestowed one of its most liberal He- 

 wards on Mr. Wynn, Watch and 

 Clock Maker, Dean-street, Soho. 

 The feeble tones produced from the 

 bells of our church-clocks, arise from 

 the great resistance which the ham- 

 mers suffer in their fall by the spring 

 called the counter-spring, which is 

 placed under the shank of the ham- 

 mer, to prevent it from chattering the 

 bell. It has been proved by an expe- 

 riment made on the hammers of the 

 turret-clock at the Royal Military Col- 

 lege, that this spring opposes a force 

 of forty-two pounds out of fifty, leav- 

 ing only the force of eight pounds to 

 put the bell in vibration. The only 

 means of obtaining a blow from the 

 hammer, to produce the weak tones 

 which are made by our present church- 

 clocks, have been to make use of ma- 

 chinery of very large dimensions, and 

 to suspend a very heavy weight as a 

 maintaining power ; and, even with 

 the assistance of these, there is scarce- 

 ly a church-clock in London that is 

 heard out of its immediate vicinity ; 

 consequently, the great bulk of the 

 population derive no benefit from these 

 useful machmes. In fact, the increas- 

 ing the size of the machinery and 

 weight, in a groat measure defeats its 

 own object ; for it creates almost as 

 much resistance as it increases power, 

 from the additional friction suffered by 

 the increased weightof the moving ob- 

 jects, the large sizes of the pivots, and 

 the strong inllexible ropes necessarily 

 used, which have to pass round the 

 barrels, and, in most cases, numerous 

 pulleys. On the present system, the 



SSI 



power of the movement is exerted in 

 vain, as it is obviously an absurdity to 

 be at the expense of creating an im- 

 mense mechanical power, ajid suffer 

 the greatest part of it to be neutralized 

 before it takes effect : it is like attach- 

 ing eight horses to tlie shafts of a wag- 

 gon, and placing seven others on be- 

 hind, to resist the progress of the 

 former. 



Mr. Wynn has by this invention re- 

 moved the whple resistance to the fall 

 of the hammer, by dispensing with the 

 counter. spring, and causijig it to fall 

 without any obstruction whatever ; and 

 has taken advantage of the re-action 

 which takes place on the collision of 

 elastic bodies, to catcii the hammer at 

 the extreme height to which it re- 

 bounds from the bell ; by which he is 

 enabled to produce a perpendicular 

 fall of the hammer of twelve inches, at 

 the expense of raising it only six. It 

 will be practicable in almost all cases 

 to increase the fall of the hammer three 

 or four times greater than it now falls ; 

 and those who are acquainted with the 

 accelerated force of falling bodies, will 

 be able to appreciate the great in- 

 crease offeree that will be acquired by 

 this principle. 



It is easy to demonstrate that the 

 force of the new hammer may be in- 

 creased twenty or thirty times greater 

 than it is on the system hitherto adopt- 

 ed. By means of this invention, it 

 will be easy to create a force that will 

 put the largest sized bell in as great 

 vibration as it is capable of, or to make 

 it sound so as to be heard at as great a 

 distance as when rung with the rope, 

 which has hitherto been impracticable. 

 What is of still more importance is, 

 that these advantages are to be ob- 

 tained at a great reduction in price; 

 for the dimensions of the machinery, 

 and weight of the maintaining power^ 

 may be mueli diminished, which not 

 only reduces the price, but lessens the 

 friction of the whole machine, and ren- 

 ders the clock much less liable to 

 wear ; for the great weights which are 

 necessary to apply to lilt the present 

 imperfect hammer-work, very fre- 

 quently grinds the machinery to dust. 

 Tiie torcc required to jiut a clock in 

 motion on the new principle, may be 

 conq)ared to giving motion to a light 

 vehicle, while one on the old system is 

 like a heavily laden one. 



I{y the adoption of (liis invention, a 

 church-clock may be made to go eight 

 days without winding, and yet produce 



u far 



