1836.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



353 



two thousand dozen of Sea Gulls' eggs. They 

 sold readily at twenty-five cents a dozen. A por- 

 lioii of the cargo were to be carried to Boston. 

 They are the grey gulTs egg, nearly twice as 

 large as the coiiiinon hen's eij:g, some of them 

 blue, and some white with black spots. It is said 

 these eggs are (ound in such large quantities, that 

 many vessels make a [)rofitabIe business in carry- 

 ing them to market. 



The Portland Advertiser says, that they are the 

 eggs of a species of bird called the Murrii, that 

 has, from time immemorial, monopolized the bu- 

 siness of egg making on the Labrador coast. The 

 eggs are the size of a large turkey or goose e^g, 

 in the shape of a bell pear, and of all the colors 

 that can be found among the latest patterns of 

 calicoes. They are stowed in the hold of the ves- 

 sel like common stone ballast, and are selling off 

 rapidly. 



Fxtracts from tbe Journal of tlic Franklin Institute. 



LIST OF PATKNTS ISSUED IN JAKUARY. 1836, 

 FOR IMPROVEMENTS OF MACHINES, &C. TO 

 BE USED IN AGRICULTURE, OR DOMESTIC 

 l:CO^"OMY. 



TFti'h remarks, hy the Editor of the Journal of the 

 Franklin Institute. 



For an Elastic revolving belt Saw ; Benjamin 

 Barker, Ellsworth, Hancock county, Maine, 

 January 6. 



The patentee says, "what I claim as my inven- 

 tion, and not previously known in the above de- 

 scribed machine is, the elastic revolving belt saw, 

 and the manner of using the same. I do not 

 therefore, claim as my invention any of the other 

 several parts of said machine, nor tlieir particular 

 combination." If the patentee could have made 

 any new arrangement of the parts for operating 

 this saw, he might have claimed such arrange- 

 ment withsome propriety, but the saw itself which 

 he does claim is quite an old affair ; it is mention- 

 ed in Rees' Cyclopipdia ; has previously been pa- 

 tented more than once in the United States ; has 

 been repeatedly tried, and as frequently abandon- 

 ed as worthless in operation ; and such will again 

 be its fate, should it again be essayed by the pre- 

 sent patentee. 



For a Forest, or Tree Saw; Walter Hunt, City 

 of New York, January 6, 



Considerable ingenuity has been displayed in 

 the arrangement of' the apparatus described and 

 figured by the patentee, who has made his inven- 

 tion lijlly known. The apparatus consists of a 

 grapple by which the whole is to be attached to 

 the tree to be felled, by means of a screw, spike, 

 &c.; the lever, to which one end of, the saw is to 

 lie attached, and which, by being moved back- 

 ward and forward horizontally, operates on the 

 saw ; the saw and a spiral spring by which the 

 latter is to be kept up to its cutting bearing. The 

 particular construction of these par;s we shall not 

 attempt to describe. The patentee claims "the 

 style of construction, combination, and arrange- 

 ment of the forest tree saw, as above specified, 

 &.C." We shall not, as we have said, attempt a 

 TRADE IN BIRDS EGGS. pari icular description of the proposed arrangement 



The Portland Courier tells us that the schooner of the parts of this machine, but predict that it 

 Martha Jane, of Fall River, arrived there on j will share the fate of other saw machines lor fell- 

 Wednesday, h-om the coast of Labrador, withjing trees, and be found by far less efficient than 

 Vol. IV— 45 



branch of the work. An accurate, minute and 

 uniliM-m analysis of the minerals, including mine- 

 ral waters, and of the various soils of the state, 

 has been deemed of great importance, and will be 

 of evident utility. To ensure the best result in 

 this respect, and to prevent the repetition of the 

 same labor to some extent, at least, f)y each geolo- 

 gist, this department of the work has been com- 

 niitled to one person. The governor has, we be- 

 lieve, taken great pains to secure to the state the 

 services of persons in all respects well qualified for 

 the duties assigned them ; and has almost comple- 

 ted the list of a[)pointmen!s. 



JohnTorrey, M. D., Professor of Chemistry and 

 Botany in the College of Physicians and Sur- 

 geons, New York, Ulc, is appointed Botanist, and 

 Ts to execute the botanical department of the sur- 

 vey. 



Lewis C. Beck, Profl^ssor of Chemistry and 

 Botany in the New York University, &c., is ap- 

 pointed Mineralogist and Chemist, and has charge 

 of that branch ol" the work which relates to the 

 chemical analysis of the minerals, soils, &c. 



James E. De Kay, M. D. author of numerous 

 papers on the Geology and Zoology of the Uni- 

 ted States, has charge, of the Zoological Depart- 

 ment. 



William W. Mather, for several years Professor 

 of Aiinendogy and Geology in the Military Acad- 

 emy at West Point, is appointed Priiici|)al Geolo- 

 gist to execute the survey of the first district. His 

 assistant has not yet been selected. The first dis- 

 trict is composed of the follovv"ing counties — Suf- 

 folk, Queens, Kings, Rlclimond, New York, West- 

 chester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutciu^ss, Oranije, 

 Sullivan, Delaware, Ulster, Greene, Columbia, 

 Rensselaer, Albany, Schoharie, Schencctad}', Sa- 

 ratoga and Washington. 



Ebenezer Emmons, M. D., Professor of Natu- 

 ral History in Williams College, has been appoint- 

 ed Principal Geologist for the second district. 

 James Hall, instructor in the Rensselaer School 

 at Troy, is appointed the assistant. This district 

 contains the counties of Warren, Essex, Clinton, 

 Franklin, Hamilton, St. Lawrence and Jefiisr- 

 son. 



Timothy A. Conrad, author of a work on the 

 "fossil shells of the tertiary formations of the 

 United States ;" Monograph of the American 

 Uniodea^, &c. is appointed Principal Geologist for 

 the third district; and Geo. W. Boyd, M. D., cu- 

 rator of the N. Y. Lyceum of Natural History, is 

 appointed his assistant. Tins district includes 

 the counties of Montgomery, Herkimer, Oneida, 

 Lewis, Oswego, Madison, Onondaga, Cayuga, 

 Wayne, Ontario, Monroe, Orleans, Genesee and 

 Livingston. 



The fourth district incluilcs the counties of Ot- 

 sego, Chenango, Broome, Tiogc, Cortland, Tomp- 

 kins, Seneca, Yates, Steuben, Allegany, Catta- 

 raugus, Chautauque, Erie, and Niagara. Lard- 

 ner Vanuxem, late Professor o!" Chemistry and 

 Mineralogy in Columbia College, South Carolina, 

 has been appointed Princijial Geologist for this dis- 

 trict. The assistant has not yet been selected. 



