New Falents and Mechanical Inecnlions. 



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per to use pipe-clay, or some soft cailli 

 life IVoiu iion or other colouring sub- 

 statices, that will not burn aw a}, and 

 omit the coal-aslies altogclhcr. If the 

 Hsiics or any oilier cotnbiislihie sub- 

 stance be omitted in any of the niix- 

 tnces, cither for tlie ceiiitnt or the wash, 

 tiien fuel must be eni])lo)ed in the 

 burning, cither by stratifying, as in lime- 

 burning, or by any t)l!icr convenient 

 method at the iliscrcliou of the o;ie- 

 raior; but, when a inoper quantity of 

 combustible snbstance enters into tlie 

 ♦jon)i)onnd, no extraneous fuel is tiec.es- 

 sary. To use the comjxisition as a 

 cement or mortar, mix and temper It 

 ■with water, and apply it while in a 

 jilastic state. To form and use tlie 

 wash, add a sufficient quantity of water 

 to the composition to make it capa- 

 ble of being applied with a brush, as 

 clher water-waslies are, taking care that 

 it be used soon after the addition of the 

 water, as it will shortly slake or turn to 

 a solid mass. 



Preservation of Ship-tcreched Mariners. 

 Capt. Dansey has lately received a 

 gold medal from the Society of Arts, for 

 liis ingenious application of the principle 

 of a boy's kite, to convey a strong rope 

 and grappling-iron on shore, from a 

 vessel stranded on a lee-shore. A 

 lozenge-sliajied sail, of ligiit canvas or 

 liollund, is stretched by two s[)ars of 

 light strong wood, crossing each ollur 

 at right Jsiigus, and forms the captain's 

 kite, which in some instances he lias 

 extended to sixty square feet of siuface, 

 and even a larger kite might be used, if 

 uecessary. i'^om several points in the 

 spars, small belh -bands converge, and 

 arc joined together, each of its jiropcr 

 length for sustaining the kite against 

 ilm horiznntallyblowing wind, with 

 such an angle of inclin»1ion as will give 

 the kite the greatest power of ascension. 

 'J'lie kite is raised by means of a strong 

 •rope, which in sonic of the captain's 

 experiments has weighed 60 lbs. and 

 measured 11 inches circumference, and 

 350 yards long; one end of which rope 

 is joined to that end of the longest spar 

 of the kite which is most remote from 

 its tail, (which is huig, and made heavy 

 liy i)ieces of wood,) and at the junction a 

 grapnel or iroiulrag is fixed, of sufficient 

 strength and weight to enter the ground, 

 and secure the end of the rope on shore, 

 when the kite has fallen there. The 

 •naniier of occasioning this tall of the 

 kite when desired, consliluti'S the chief 

 novelty of the cajdain's invention: this 



433 



he efl'ects by forming a dctacliabje con- 

 nexion bulueeii the jiinctiou of the 

 belly-bands and the ro[)C, at a potnfc 

 thereof so far distant from the grapnel, 

 as to occasion some s|>are or slack rope 

 in that part. 



The kite, thus prepared, is launched 

 from the ship, and its Hying rope is 

 slowly and carefully let out, until this 

 has |)asscd some c(!nsiderable distance 

 in-iand, when jireparations are made 

 for falling the kite. In the same man- 

 ner as a boy sends up to his kite a small 

 piece of paper, strungou the kite-string, 

 called a messenger, Ca[)L D. uses a 

 round jticce of ligiit board, with a hole 

 in its centre, passed on to the end of his 

 rope, on board of the distressed vessel ; 

 which mtssenger is by the wind quickly 

 forced up to the point of attachment of 

 the belly-bands, and, when arrived there, 

 it discharges a trigger, by which these 

 bands are instantly loosened Irom their 

 attachment to the rope; and the same 

 remaining then only attached to- the 

 head of the kite, the same begins in- 

 stantly to fall, and, when down, can hp 

 dragged along the ground by those ou 

 board, until the grapnel takes effect; bo 

 that a seaman may avail himself of the 

 rope to pull himself through the water, 

 for gaining the shore. When such an 

 effective power of ascent and conveyance 

 is used, as Capt. Dansey here describes, 

 it is plain that, besides conveying on 

 shore the strong flying rojie and its 

 grajinel, a strong line also may be con- 

 veyed on shore, joined to the rope, close 

 above the attachment of the belly-bands 

 thereto; so that when one expert swim- 

 mer from amongst the crew has reached 

 the shore, as above mentioned, and has 

 further secured the grapnel by pressing 

 it into the ground, and by heaping stones 

 or earth upon the kite, this first-landed 

 seaman might, by means of the line, 

 drag otiiers of them on shore, holding 

 by the main rope, or else in light boxes 

 or baskets, suspended by rings from thfe 

 rope ; and which boxes or baskets those 

 on board might drag back again, by 

 means of the line j and when, by these 

 means, the chief part and most feeble of 

 the crew had reached the shore, any 

 particularly valuable stores, or part of 

 the cargo, might also be sent on shore, 

 lashed in the box or basket, before the 

 remainder of the crew finally quitted 

 the vessel; to which last the rope and 

 line would bo left attached, as the 

 means of again reaching the vessel, in 

 case it held together until the mode- 

 ratinijof the slortu, 



PROCEEDINGS 



