PATENTS. 



701 



that next to the rear smaller, and the extreme 

 rear section being still less ; on being fired, 

 the ball and forward sections of powder are 

 started by the explosion of the first section of 

 powder, and the ball is accelerated by the 

 explosion of the successively larger charges of 

 powder, the last explosion taking place just 

 before the ball leaves the gun, so that its ve- 

 locity is accelerated by a constantly increasing 

 pressure. The experiments with this improve- 

 ment show a much greater range and penetra- 

 tion than was ever before attained with the 

 same amount of powder. The recoil of the 

 gun with this mode of acceleration ia very 

 much lessened. 



Revolting-chambered pistols have also been 

 improved and simplified: in letters patent 

 granted to D. Moore, Jan, 7, 1862, the forward 

 part of each chamber is rifled, and coincides 

 with the rifling of the barrel, the ball is en- 

 tered, in a metallic cartridge case, at the open 

 rear end of the chamber, so that the act of 

 slugging the ball in the rifle grooves tends to 

 force the cylinder of chambers forward against 

 the rear end of the barrel, and prevent the 

 escape of gases at this point. 



E:flcing guns have been made and nsed 

 that fire over a hundred shots per minute, 

 and an accelerating gun has been invented in 

 which the penetration of the projectile has 

 been truly wonderful, such as a half-inch steel 

 bolt driven through two iron plates, each of 

 which was more than two inches thick. An- 

 other invention of a rifle battery capable of 

 firing over four hundred shots per minute has 

 also been' made; but of these, for prudential 

 reasons, no farther description can now be 

 given. Various valuable improvements have 

 been made in breech-loading firearms, and in 

 projectiles, also in armor plates and iron-clad 

 vessels, for which, see XAVY. 1 



Hay Elevator. The hard labor of the farm- 

 er is gradually being done away with, and the 

 power of horses and of steam are being intro- 

 duced for the relief of human labor. Any 

 improvement in this direction should be hailed 

 with joy, for agriculture is the most noble and 

 honorable employment, and many are kept 

 from engaging therein in consequence of the 

 excessive bodily labor connected therewith. 



In former years, the most laborious work on 

 the farm was throwing the hay from the wagon 

 upon the mow in the hot and close barn ; 

 several attempts were made to unload by 

 means of a fork drawn up by a rope passing 

 through a block overhead, and thence through 

 a block on the floor to a horse. These forks 

 were all cumbersome, and more or less diffi- 

 cult to operate. 



A Baptist minister in Greene co., N. Y., who 

 found that the labor of pitching hay during the 

 week rather incapacitated him for preaching 

 on Sunday, thought he would devise a horse- 

 pitchfork, and, after it was made, its operation 

 exceeded the most sanguine expectations of 

 himself and friends, and he patented the same 



Sept. 30, 1862, and the fork has since taken 

 several premiums at the various fairs where it 

 has been exhibited. 



This invention consists in curved tines ex- 

 tending downward and forward from the 

 head of the fork ; a short handle is connect- 

 ed to this head on the opposite side to the 

 tines. A bail is hinged to the head of the 

 fork, by which the same is lifted, and a rule- 

 joint brace between the bail and handle 

 keeps the handle down while the hay is being 

 raised and conveyed away to its place on the 

 mow ; a rope drawn up by a horse is employed 

 as before. The pulling of a cord by the atten- 

 dant raises this rule-joint brace and handle, and 

 draws the tines away from under the hay. and 

 the further movement pulls the fork back to 

 the attendant on the cart as the horse backs. 

 This fork, though small, will raise about four 

 hundred pounds of hay at once. 



Lamps. The introduction of coal oil has 

 opened a new field for the inventive faculty, 

 a'nd it has been so thoroughly cultivated that 

 it is difficult to select the most important of 

 the inventions connected with lamps. The 

 lamps that were in use when coal oil was first 

 introduced were not adapted to burning the 

 same, in consequence of the preponderance of 

 carbon in such oils, but inventors have stepped 

 in to supply the deficiency, and now lamps are 

 constructed to burn the oil without smoke or 

 smell, and with a very brilliant light. This 

 result has been the most perfectly attained in 

 lamps that employ a glass chimney, although 

 several have been made, patented, and intro- 

 duced that burn without any chimney or shade. 

 See ILLUMINATION. 



Locomotives. With heavy trains and in as- 

 cending grades the driving wheels of engines 

 are aptfto slip. Sand has been used to prevent 

 this, but that is only partially effective, and 

 produced a grinding operation that wears flat 

 places upon the wheels. An ingenious mode 

 of giving adhesion to locomotive whee% 

 patented by T. Selleck, Sept. 16. 1862, in 

 which the metal known as ' Franklinite " is 

 used in place of sand. This metal is very hard, 

 and, when properly prepared, can be ponnded 

 up into small lumps or grains. By allowing 8 

 small stream of this granulated ; ' Franklinite" 

 pig metal to run on the rails for twenty or 

 thirty feet, the slipping of the wheels will be 

 prevented for a long distance, because these 

 metallic grains are, by the weight, imbedded 

 in the tires of the driving wheels, and act like 

 fine cog teeth upon the surface o the rails to 

 prevent slipping. 



Locomotive Trucks. If the railroads of our 

 country were perfectly straight there would be 

 but few instances of running off the track, but 

 as curves are necessary, many different d< 

 have been made and patented for ensuring 

 greater safety in travelling over them. The 

 most recent "and effective device for ensuring 

 safety in running over curves, as well as pre- 

 venting accidents by contact with obstructions 



