of the lint to be much greater than in Simon's machine, in which the 

 seeds are kept in continuous motion and are subjected to the pressure 

 of the other seeds from above. In any case, if this is the correct 

 explanation of the safe passage of living worms through the machine, 

 it is fairly certain that the lint does not suffice to preserve the 'worms in 

 the heated mass in the sacks ater leaving the machine. 



The third and most likely theory is that the presence of both 

 underheated and overheated seeds simultaneously may be due to the 

 fact that some seeds come through the machine much more rapidly 

 than others, as was shown by passing a handful of torn-up paper 

 through the machine, odd pieces of which were still arriving at ihe 

 end of a quarter of an hour, although the first pieces arrived at the 

 end of seven minutes only. This irregularity is probably caused by 

 the arrangement of the oblique flanges on the revolving framework. 

 Of the five ribs which alternate with the steam pipes three bear flanges 

 which push the seed forward while the flanges on the remaining two 

 push the seed backward. The object of this arrangement is, of course, 

 to mix the seed up well. The revolving ribs, however, which lift 

 the seed up from the bottom and pour it over the steam pipes do all 

 the mixing that is necessary, and the actual effect of the flanges seems 

 to be to cause some seeds to go through much faster than others, 

 according to which set of flanges they happen to hit the more often. 



If this conclusion is correct the defect can very easily be remedied 

 by making all the flanges face the same direction. They should 

 also be made with a much larger surface and a smaller obliquity, in 

 such a way that they form an almost complete Archimedean screw, 

 in which case the passage of the seed will be much more regular 

 and consequently the effect on the worms and the seed more uniform. 



The only other alteration required in the machine is the fixing of 

 an automatic regulator for the steam pressure. A simple form of 

 this might consist of a reducing valve which could be regulated by 

 hand so as to give a pressure sufficient to raise the temperature of 

 the seed at the exit to about 50 C., combined with a by-pass which 

 when open would raise the pressure enough to bring the temperature 

 up to about 60 C. The valve on the by-pass would be connected 

 with a Hearson's capsule situated in the seed exit in such a way that 

 it would open when the temperature of the seed fell below 55 C. 

 and shut again when it rose above that temperature. 



