498 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



American Institute Polytechnic Association, ? 

 Sei^lember '21th, 1866. \ 



Prof. S. D. Tillman in the chair; Mr. T. D. Stetson, Secretary, 



Pedometer. 



Mr. H. lY. Walling exhibited a pedometer for counting the 

 number of steps made by a person in walking any distance. The 

 inventor is Mr. A. F. Weatherby, of Dcdham, Mass. This instru- 

 ment wotild count up to ten thousand steps. It has a cord con- 

 nected with the leg, which acts on a ratchet wheel, and thus moves 

 the counting wheel the distance of one cog at each step taken. It 

 is very light, and may be worn without inconvenience. 



Improved Car. 



Mr. Taylor exhibited a model of his street car, designed to 

 transfer the traction from the ground to the metallic bottom of 

 the car, which thus takes the place of the rail. The wheels are 

 mounted on a number of pedestals, attached to an endless band, 

 encircling the car. 



The chairman said that this is, perhaps, the best application of 

 the old principle of a portable track that has been invented, but 

 its practical value remains to be tested. 



Measuring Funnel. 



Mr. Campbell exhibited Whitney's measur&ig funnel. A gi'adu- 

 ated plate of glass fitted in the side of the funnel serves to indi- 

 cate the quantity of fluid in it, a faucet at the bottom preventing 

 the fluid from falling out. 



Dr. J. B. Rich read the following communication from Dr. Van- 

 derweyde, of Philadelphia : 



Petroleum and the Insurance Companies. 



It is surprising to see how long a time it takes for simple facts 

 to become universally known. It is still more surprising to see 

 that those who are directly interested in the knowledge imparted 

 by the experience of scientific investigators neglect to obtain the, to 

 them, so necessary information, till in the end they are taught their 

 great and sometimes irreparable loss by their own experience. 



A striking illustration of this fact is seen in the actions of the 

 insurance companies in the case of insuring petroleum distilleries, 

 and in the action of the Lejrislature remilatinij the storage and 

 refining of that substance. Millions of dollars would have been 



