710 



PATENTS. 



Line Guide for Fishing Rods. The little 

 metal rings that are commonly used on fishing 

 rods to guide the line from the reel to the tip 

 are ordinarily of somewhat elaborate construc- 

 tion and corresponding expense. Joel C. Parker, 

 of Michigan, has invented and patented a very 

 simple appliance of this 

 kind, consisting of two or 

 more spiral coils of wire, 

 the uncoiled ends of the 

 FIG. 20. wire projecting so as to be 



readily lashed to the rod. 

 When in position the axis of the coils is parallel 

 with the rod, and the line runs freely through it 

 in the usual way (see Fig. 20). 



Drag Anchor. Emil J. Pagan, of France, 

 has patented what would seem to be a highly 

 efficient drag anchor, designed to take the place 

 of the make-shift devices usually employed by 

 mariners to keep the head of the vessel to the 

 sea in a heavy gale. The invention, as shown in 

 Fig. 21, consists of a series of umbrella para- 

 chutes, attached to the cable, and weighted 

 at suitable intervals with sinkers to keep them 

 below the surface of the water. As seen at the 

 left of the illustration, the anchor is in the 

 act of being hauled back on board the vessel. 

 The tripping-line is allowed to hang slack when 

 the anchor is in use, but as soon as it is hauled 



FIQ. 21. 



inboard the pressure is brought upon the re- 

 verse side of the umbrella parachutes, and they 

 automatically close in passing through the 

 water. An anchor of this kind can be stowed 

 in very small space when not in use, and is al- 

 ways ready to be thrown overboard, and will 

 act instantly and efficiently. In the case of 

 most of the drag anchors in 'use, delay is almost 

 always necessary in locking and adjusting the 

 supports required to keep them in position. 



Photographic Camera. Among the most 

 interesting of the photographic appliances of the 

 year is the camera patented by Carl C. Stirn, of 

 New York. It maybe described ns a panoramic 

 camera, intended to produce such pictures as 

 are used for the outlines of the cycloramas that 

 have been exhibited in the principal cities of the 

 United States. In order to secure an accurate 

 panoramic photograph, it is necessary to revolve 

 the camera on a pivot coincident with the cen- 



ter of the lens, not with that of the camera 

 itself, and upon this principle rests one of the 

 most important claims of this patent. In con- 

 nection with this, however, are film rollers, by 

 which the ordinary sensitized film is kept taut, 

 and the surface to be exposed is constantly 

 maintained exactly at the required focal dis- 

 tance ; moreover, the distance of the revolution 

 is regulated by means of ingenious machinery, 

 so that when one picture has been taken the 

 film is shifted, and the edge of the next expos- 

 ure coincides exactly with the edge of the pre- 

 ceding exposure. By this means a perfect pho- 

 tographic circle may be made of the entire hori- 

 zon, and all the perspective values and the dif- 

 ferent conditions of light and shade may be 

 secured with great rapidity and exactness. 



Geographical Device. Dr. Edward Egglc- 

 ston, of New York, has patented, and shows in 

 practical use in connection with a " First Book 

 in American History," a device that is well 

 calculated to impress geographical divisions on 

 the mind of a child. In brief, the invention 

 consists of the combination in book form of a 

 series of maps, each printed upon one side of a 

 leaf of the book, and each representing a sepa- 

 rate portion of a given country. The leaves 

 bearing the maps are successive ; for instance, 

 the first recognized boundaries of the United 

 States may be shown upon 

 the first leaf ; the blank 

 space of this leaf is cut 

 away with a pair of scis- 

 sors. When the printed 

 part which remains is 

 folded down on the suc- 

 ceeding page, it exactly 

 fits upon the next territo- 

 rial acquisition of the 

 United States ; and thus, 

 by cutting away the blank 



Eortion of the successive 

 :aves, the whole present 

 territory of the United 

 States is built up in its 

 regular order, and at 

 length the complete map 

 is seen at a glance as the 

 country exists at present. 

 Apparently, this device 

 will effectually impress 



upon the youthful mind any geographical changes 

 that may take place. 



Lovibond's Tintometer, This device is in- 

 tended to reduce to a certain definite and fixed 

 standard the various color tests in use among 

 dyers, print manufacturers, metallurgists, brew- 

 ers, oil refiners, and, in short, all the trades that 

 depend upon color for any stage or process of 

 manufacture. Hitherto varying conditions of 

 light and. to a very great extent, the "personal 

 equation " have rendered such tests more or less 

 untrustworthy. The tintometer, the invention 

 of Mr. Joseph W. Lovibond, of Salisbury, Eng- 

 land, may be briefly described as consisting in 

 effect of two tubes placed side by side, provided 

 with an eye-piece at one end, and open at the 

 other end. Slight changes in the mechanical 

 arrangement provide for the examination of 

 opaque, transparent, solid, or liquid bodies 

 (see Fig. 22). At the left, marked I), is a re- 



