i2 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



LFtBIiUAnY 



By coating the mass in t)iis way witli melted siipar, any pores 

 that may be in it (on its external surface at least), are filled nji 

 with carbonaceous matter, and any subsequent drying rendered un- 

 necessary. 



The following the patentee states to be the best dimensions for 

 the electrodes : — The lower electrode should be as long as can be 

 conveniently manufactured (8 inches for instance,) when used for 

 ordinary purposes, and it should be of a cylindrical form. The 

 smaller' the diameter is, the better the liglit ; but the larger the 

 electrode is (in cross section), the longer it will last with a given 

 current of electricity. The upper electrode need not be of any 

 great length ; it is well, however, to have it about one-tliird as long 

 a.s the lower one, and of half the diameter. 



The patentee concludes his specification with the following ac- 

 count of a method of employing currents of electricity to actuate 

 apparatus for effectinij tlie speedy lighting up and extinction or 

 obscuration of signal lamps in which oil, camphine, or other like 

 inflammable fluid is the illuminating substance employed : — Sup- 

 pose, for example, tliere are three such lam])s with diff'erent coloured 

 glasses, say white, green, and red, which are required to be some- 

 times lighted, and at other times extinguished or obscured, as is 

 usual on railways, and not all at once, but in a particular order of 

 sequence, or each under particular circumstances only, I efl'ect this 

 in the following manner. The three coloured signal lamps are 

 placed side by side, or they may be placed one above the other. A 

 sectional elevation of one of these is given in fig. 5. A' is a bar of 



Fig. S. 



metal, having a drop bar B', attached to it. These bars are for tin; 

 purpose of working three extinguishers, one to each lamp. The 

 figure shows one of these extinguishers as applied to a lamp ; the 

 dotted lines in the figure indicate the jjosition which it assumes 

 when raised up. The drop bar B' is attached to a clockwork 

 escapement, the detent of which is alternately retained and liberated 

 by the passage of electric current, and by its mechanical force 

 raises up the l)ar B', and causes the light, in whichever lamp it may 

 be, to be put out. The three extinguishers are made to move to- 

 gether, to save the necessity of each being provided witli a separate 

 extinguishing mechanism. In the centre of the burner of each 

 lamp is a ring«, of fine platinum wire, which is so contrived as to 

 touch the wick of the lamp, and the current of electricity being 

 made to pass tlirough tliis platinum ring, it becomes intensely 

 heated, and tlierel)y ignites the wick of the lam]). I do not restrict 

 myself, however, to the employment of platinum wire, as carbon 

 for this purpose may be used, or any other difficultly-fusible mate- 

 rial ; neither do I limit myself to the employment of a ring of any 

 particular form. The wick may, for instance, be a flat wick, and 

 in that case a straight piece of wire would be suitable for the ar- 

 rangement. 



ARTIFICIAL FUEL. 



BoNDV AzuLAY, of Ilotherliithe, Surrey, printer, and AnitAiiAir 

 Soi.oMo.vs, of London, mercliaiit, for ^^ Iniproremi'iitK in thf riiiiiiii- 

 fiirtiire of rharaml (iiid otlirr fuel." — Granted June 10 ; Enrollcil 

 "Dec. 10,"l8i7. 



This invention relates, first, to the manufacture of charcoal, 

 to avoid waste caused by breaking it. This is effected by reducint; 

 the waste to powder, and then compressing it, by an hydraulic 

 press or other apparatus, in moulds, until the mass is reduced to 

 from one-fifth to one-eighth of its original liulk. 



The second invention relates to making fuel of small coal, 

 breeze, coke, and cinders, with or without charcoal, l)y pulverizing 

 the whole, and then compressing the powder into blocks. 



The third invention relates to making a fuel for lighting fires, 

 by mixing charcoal powder, small coal, breeze, coke, and cinders 

 (all or any of them), with tar, pitch, resin, or other suitable in- 

 flammable substance, and compressing the mixture in moulds; and 

 when taken from the mould, the block is dipped in tlie tar, &c., 

 and covered with saw-dust and wrapped in waste ))aper : a block 

 so prepared will readily ignite on the application of a lighted 

 match. 



M^\TER GAUGE. 



Alfred Vincent Newton, of 66, Chancery-lane, Middlesex, 

 mechanical draughtsman, for " Improivd iipparntiiK to be applied to 

 steam-boilers." — Granted April 15; Enrolled Oct. 15, 1847. (A 

 communication.) 



The principle upon which the apparatus is constr\icted is that 

 of a percussive horizontal action of a flat surface upon a portion 

 of the water to be gauged. One form of apparat\is on this prin- 

 ciple is shown in the annexed engravings, figs. 1 and 2, lieing an 

 external view and section, a, the steam-boiler; 6, a small cylinder 



Fif. I. 



Fit... 2. 



communicating therewith by two tubes c d, the upper one with the 

 steam, and the lower with the water ; c, a piston, moving freely in 

 the cylinder /;, aiul connected by a rod /, to a vibrating lever ij. 

 enclosed in a (piadrant-shaped chamber. The pivot of the lever y 

 passes through a stuffing-box _/', made at the small eiul of the quad'- 

 rant, and carries externally another lever A, furnished with au 

 index for iiulicating, on a graduated scale, the height of water ia 

 the boiler. A rod ; is suspeiuled from the lever It, for enabling the 

 atteiulant to raise the piston in the cylinder, and bring it down 

 with percussive force on to tlie surface of the water, in order to 

 ascertain its exact height. It will he at once understood that Uw 

 same pressure of steam and water must exist in the cylinder and 

 its (|uadrant case as in the boiler, and that the working of the 

 apparatus cannot be afl^ected thereby. 



