1825. ] 
sists in inserting a series of rods or shafts 
in the hollow part of the central rail, similar 
to those shafts called lying shafts in mills, 
and these shafts are to be made revolve by 
means of wheels and pinions, worked by a 
stationary engine at some convenient point 
in the line of rail-road. The line of revolv- 
ing shafts is to have bevelled pinions. at 
proper distances, to move cross shafts pro- 
vided with arms, and each carriage is to 
have a species of ladder fixed to its side, the 
steps of which the arms of the cross shafts 
are to act on, and by that means impel for- 
ward the carriages, the cross shafts being at 
such distance from one another, that the 
next in succession may act on the ladder 
before the preceding one quits it. 
The patentee also proposes to effect the 
same purpose by causing the pinions on the 
series of lying shafts, or rods, to impel 
drums with endless chains from drum to 
drum, the chains to be supported on rollers. 
The carriage or carriages to be provided 
with jointed legs for laying hold of the 
chains, and consequently be moved forward 
in the direction of the motion of the chain. 
To CuristorHER Pores, of Bristol, for a 
Composition of certain Metals, to be used 
for the purpose of Sheathing the Bottoms of 
Ships, and of Roofing the Tops of Houses, 
and other Purposes. —S8th April, 1823. 
THis invention consists in the union of 
tin and zine, or of tin, lead and zinc, and 
the application of thin sheets of these alloys 
to cover roofs, the bottoms of ships, and 
other things of a like description which are 
exposed to tie action of sea-water, or to the 
weather. To effect the union of tin and 
zine, the patentee directs a certain quantity 
of zine, in the state it is usually made, to be 
melted in the usual manner, in an iron pot 
or boiler, or other utensil ; and when it is 
melted, an equal quantity of tin is to be 
added, the mixture is to be stirred together 
in a fluid state, and then cakes of it are to 
be cast in moulds of about eight inches in 
breadth, ten inches in length, an three- 
fourths of an inch in thickness. 
To unite tin, lead and zinc, the patentee 
melts a certain quantity of lead in an iron 
pot, or boiler, in the ordinary manner, and 
adds to it twice the quantity of tin, and casts: 
this alloy in small lumps of any convenient 
size. He then melts three times as much 
zinc as he had previously melted of lead, in 
an iron pot, and adds the small lumps of the 
alloy of tin and lead to the melted zine, and 
casts the compound in cakes of the size be- 
fore described: This he states. to be the 
best mode of incorporating the lead with 
zine in the composition; and he states that 
in melting the various metals, no more heat 
should be applied than will just suffice to 
make them unite thoroughly, as more in- 
tense heat hardens the composition, and 
will of course render it brittle. 
The process described for extending the 
cakes into sheets is the same as that adopted 
Montury Mac. No. 407. 
Patents for Mechanical and Chemical Inventions. 
249 
for forming sheets of copper, excepting that 
it is an advantage in rolling or hammering 
these alloys that the cakes should be warmed 
to the heat of boiling water, the metals 
being more malleable at that temperature. 
Though the proportions given for the 
alloys are stated to be the best, they may be 
varied according to the judgment of the ma- 
nufacturer. ; 
A metal or alloy that has the firmness of 
copper, and is free from its poisonous quality, 
and at the same time less expensive, is much 
wanted for certain parts of the roofs of 
dwelling-houses.. Zinc is too brittle when 
used alone, and it is also difficult to join 
pieces of zinc together so as to render them 
water tight. Lead is too soft for many pur- 
poses, and, as it expands permanently by 
the heat of the sun, if not left free at the 
joints, it seldom remains long in a state of 
good repair. One of the purposes to which 
the alloy of tin and zinc would most likely 
be applied with advantage, is, for making 
pipes for beer-drawing machines ; for cer- 
tainly lead pipes are not proper for convey= 
ing a liquid which often contains a free vege- 
table acid. The ill effects resulting from 
the use of lead pipes in the manufacture of 
cider, ought to render people cautious of 
using this metal, in any case where a portion 
of it is likely to be dissolved in a common 
beverage. 
To Mr Wirt1am Harwoop Horrocks, of 
Stockport; in the County of Chester, for his 
new invented Apparatus for giving Tension 
to the Warpin Looms. — Sealed 15th June, 
1824. 
Tue principle of this improvement upon 
the various contrivances for giving tension 
to the warp-in looms, consists in a method 
of restraining the delivery of the warp by 
friction, by means of a hoop embracing a 
wheel at the end of the warp-beam. A 
wheel or pulley is fixed at the end of the 
warp-roller, and a standard of iron, with a 
semicircular band at the top of it, is made 
fast at the bottom to a block stationed in the 
ground ; a corresponding piece of iron, with 
a semicircular band,.is also attached to the 
standard by screw-bolts ; the pulley will be 
pressed by the two semicircular bends or 
hoops which embrace it according to the 
screwing up of the bolts; and as the warp is 
drawn off by the work-roller, in front of the 
loom, the pressure of the hoop against the 
periphery of the pulley will create so much . 
friction -as to restrain the turning ‘of the 
beam or roller, and thereby keep the warp- 
threads at a proper tension. —Enrolled, 
December last. 
se ees eee 
A Last or tar Parents, which, having been 
granted in April 1811, will nxpreu in the 
present Month, viz. 
April 1.—FV or an improvement in kitchen 
ranges and sloves: to Tuomas Deaxtn, of 
St. Joln-street, Middlesex. (Monthly Mag, 
vol. 31, p. 557.) 
2K 1.—For 
