138 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



LApaiij 



The Ventihmeter.—Xn instrument the invention of a French naval 

 officer, in command at La Uochelle, where it has been tried during four years, with Bin- 

 Kularlv true results, and found to be a most vnluuble marine instrument whereby the 

 creivs and ships stationed off the coasts may often he saved-the officers having several 

 hours' notice, and knowing when to run out to sea or into harbour. The instrument 

 itself, exteriorly, exactly resembles a mariner's compass; and. haying been lixed due 

 north, the needle will take up its position, and whatever point it designates that wmd 

 will arrive in the :24 hours, but generally within the VJ to 18 hours; according to the 

 time that the needle remains at such point.solong will the wind blow from that quarter; 

 and according to the inclination of the needle from its horizontal and natural position, 

 90 will be the violence of the wind. The principle upon which the ventilometer has 

 been constructed se-ms feasible. The magno-electric fluids surround our globe, and tiieir 

 direct action is visible in the workings of the mariner's compass. \\ inds being the re- 

 sult of electrical changes, are produced by a disturbance in these fluids, and coDtinue 

 until the exact equilibrium is obtained ; neither do these winds burst forth immediately 

 over our heads, but take their origin within a circle of immense circumference— taking 

 our o.vn position as the centre. Any undue action in any part of the fluids within this 

 circumference, will have more or less influence upon the whole ; but our ordinary senses 

 cannot mark these changes, although we sometimes And nervous invalids remarkably 

 aymnathetic. and able to fortell what the healthy man cannot— yet, when the change does 

 arrive, n few hours afterwards he is obliged to admit his own grosser senses. Ihe deli- 

 cate mechanism of the ventilometer forms itself into the centre oi a certain midefaned 

 circumference, but the extent of whose influence does not exceed a space of 24 hours ; 

 any change taking place within this circle is notitied— so that, suppose the vane to be 

 pointing north, but that the ventilometer at the same moment points to south, then, 

 within the 24 hours, the south wind will blow ; but the ordinary change is from 12 to 18 

 hours, and should the ventilometer remain for hours, or days, at the same point, the same 

 wind will continue blowing; but when it changes within the 24 hours, the wind will 

 change also. This instrument is not influenced by the lighter breezes; when a strong 

 wind blows, the needle, or indicator, is horizontal— but as the winds, or atmospheric 

 changes, gradually increase in violence, the point is ylevated by the weight of the atmos- 

 phere, and thus not merely preindicates the wind that is to blow, but its exact strength 

 and duration. If the principle be proved to be correct, then, possibly, imprevementa 

 may be made, by which even the highest breezes may be preindicated. It is about to be 

 tried by the Admiralty. 



Sulphate of Iron fur Purifying Gas. — M. Martens, of the University of 

 Louvain, has made a discovery in the use of sulphate of iron for the purification of coal 

 gas. By this arrangement, the gas passes through two purifiers : in the first is placed 

 1 cwt. of sulphate of iron, dissolved in y3 gallons of water, and in the second milk of 

 lime, made by adding 83 gallons of lime to 375 gallons of water. On passing fiom the 

 second purifier, the gas is almost completely deprived of its sulphuretted hydrogen, that 

 it scarcely changes the colour of paper moistened with a solution of oxalate of lead. By 

 this process, there is a greater deposit of tar in the solution than when water alone is 

 employed; and there is a much more abundant condensation of aqueous and ammoniacal 

 vapours — so th.^t during long-continued frosts, the pipes have been kept entirely free 

 from ice, which causes considerable trouble and expense. The cause of tar depositing 

 in a ferruginous solution more readily than in water, arises from the sulphate of iron 

 liaving a greater affinity for the tar, which it condenses, and carries down with it ; and the 

 greater condensation of vapours contained in the gas is caused by a more complete 

 absorption of ammonia, which always has a tendency to mix with other vapours. The 

 above (piantity of sulphate of iron is sufficient for purifying the gas from 2j to 27 tons 

 of coal ; the solution is then so impregnated to saturation, as to requite changing. It is 

 probable tlie residue of this plan may become a valuable article of commerce. 



White Paint Mamf act tired from Antimony. — At the Liverpool Polytech- 

 nic Society, Mr. J. A. Forrest described a new mode of manufacturing white paint 

 of an excellent body, superior to that manufactured from lead. It is miide from oxide of 

 antimony, and has many advantages. He hail ascertained, that though it was now 

 high in price, were there a demaud for antimony, that metal cuuld be obtained in abund- 

 ance at about ^12 a ton, whereas the lead used costs ^'24 IDs. The new paint was, 

 consequently, much cheaper : it was not so apt to K»se its colour, and would spread over 

 a much larger surface than an equal weight of the p.4int manufactured from lead. 



Sound made Visible. — A' method has heen discovered and matured, by 

 which sound will be made visible to the human eye, its various forms and waves demon- 

 strated to sight, and the power to discriminate between the tones of one musical instru- 

 ment and another be as complete as to observe the action of water when disturbed by 

 any material cause. The experiments are likely to be ere long repealed in the Royal 

 Society. The exhibition of elTects on fine sand has probably led lo this astonishing 

 issue. 



Friction Hammer. — A novel inacliine, just completed, is now at work at 

 the Great Western Works, at Bristol, the invention of Rlr. John .Tones, manager of the 

 works, who also invented the "Cambrian Engine." The machine is called a " Friction 

 Hammer," and consists of (lames of cast-iron, in which are vertical slides acting as guides 

 to the hammer, and also supporting the machinery necessary for putting the hammer in 

 motion. The hammer consists of a plane bar of flat wrought-iron, so arranged as to 

 work in the slides, and is raised by means of two vertical rollers turning in opposite 

 directions, which are made to bear upon the bar by an exceedingly simple arrangement 

 of levers. A slight pressure upon the handle of one lever raises the hammer to any 

 height not exceeding 7 feet ; the pressure being removed it falls by its own gravity ; this 

 lever is also arranged so as to stop the hammer in any part of its dfscent, should circum- 

 stances render it necessary. The friction rollers are put in motion by means of straps 

 and pulleys, fly-wheels being also fitted on each stra|i. 



New Method of Treating the Ore of Platinum. — Instead of the tedious 

 operation of obtaining pure platinum from the ore, employing y or 1(1 parts of acid to one 

 of platinum, fli. Hess suggests the following as an improvement: — Melt one part of 

 platinum ore with tivo or three of zinc, which will form an alio}' very friuble, and easily 

 reduced to a fine powder. This powder is then to be sifted, and on it poured dilute sul 

 phuric acid at the common temperature of the atmosphere. The temperature is then 

 gradually raised, and the metals .allowed to macerate as long us there is anything to dis- 

 solve; the acid in a short time separates all the zinc from the alloy, and the principal 

 part of the iron contained in the ore. A solution is obtained in which hydrosiilphuric 

 acid produces no precipitats. Having poured oft' the liquid, the residue is a fine powder, 

 which, having been well washed, is treated with nitric acid, which dissolves the copper, 

 and other foreign metals ; the platinum is then dissolved in nitrochloric acid, and then 

 proceeded with in the usual way. 



Gas Motive Power, — At the Academic des Sciences a report was read on a 

 " gas-propeller," invented by the late M. Selliguc, in 1H44. It consists of an iron cylinder 

 in the form of a JJ — one end is closed ; water is poured in to a certain height, and in the 

 open end is placed a piston and rod, in the usual manner. On introducing any explosive 

 gases over the water, in the closed end of the tube, and effecting their combustion, the 

 resulting gases press, by their sudden expansion, the liquid on which they rest, and 

 toice up the piston to a certain height, which is again depressed by the cooling and con- 

 densation of the gas, and the atmospheric pressure on the piston. A regular reciprocat- 

 ing motion is thus obtained, which, of course, can be applied to every description of ma- 

 chinery. In closely experimenting on this ])rinciple of motive power, it has been found, 

 that eight volumes of air, and one of gas, obtained from the decomposition of water, by 

 passing steam through cylinders filled with red-hot charcoal, consist of hydrogen, 66; 

 carbonic oxide, 28 ; carbonic acid, 8. The gas can be manufactured tor one-fifth of a 

 halfpenny per 140 quarts, which is considered equal to 8 cubic inches of steam at one 

 atmosphere pressure, and costing one halfpenny and three-fifths. The inventor found, 

 that ;!r» quarts of gas, and 281) quarts of air, gave an explosive force equal to 125 tons, and 

 2.400 explosioDs can be made per hour. 



lilST or NEMT PATENTS. 



GRANTED IN ENGLAND FROM FEBRUARY 28, TO MaRCH 22, 1S48. 



Six Months allowed for Enrolmenif unless otherwise expressed. 



Elizabeth Wallace, of LaureModge, Cheltenham, Gloucester, spinster, for "certain 

 Improvements in facing, figuring, designating, decorating, planning, and otherwise 

 fitting up houses and buildings, parts of which are applicable to articles of furniture." — 

 Sealed February 2H. 



John Craft Roberts, of Holywell, Flintshire, surgeon, for "a simplified and imprured 

 mode of communicating intelligence, by means of electricity and magnetism, combined, 

 or not, with steam on railways, between the carriages on the line and the engine or ten- 

 der, so that the guards and passengers may give notice to the engineer or engine-driver, 

 for the prevention of accidents or casualties, or the mitigation of the evil thereof, and the 

 protection of human life and property from loss or injury ; and, also, of communicating 

 signals by the same agency, describing the cause or causes of alarm, and a new mode of 

 securing the passage of electricity, for the above purposes, to be substituted or not for 

 the side cliains, and of communicating Intel igence between distant places on the line.*'— 

 February 28, 



William Palmer, of Sutton- street, Clerkenwell. for "Improvements in melting fat » 

 and in the manufacture of candles." — February 2H. 



Charles Ritchie, of Aberdeen, Scotland, engineer, for "certain Improvements In loco- 

 motive and other engines.*'— Rlarch 2. 



Francis Whishaw, of Hampstead, Middlesex, civil engineer, for " a certain manufac- 

 ture of pipes of earthenware, pottery, and glass, and of certain applications and arrange- 

 ments thereof." — March H. 



William Exall, of Reading, Berkshire, engineer, for " certain Improvements in thrash, 

 ing machines, and in steam-boilers, eneines, and other apparatus for driving the same, 

 which apparatus is applicable to driving other machinery, part of which improvements 

 is a communication, and the remainder is his own invention."— March a. 



James Lockhead, of Milton, Gravesend, Kent, for "certain Improvements in ventila- 

 tion."— March 8. 



Theodorus Cornelius Seeger, Knight of the Order of Reiderlandsche Lion, of Saint 

 Gravenhage, Holland, but now of Leicester-square, Middlesex, physician, for " Improve- 

 ments in the constructian of railway carriages."— March H. 



William Beckett Johnson, of Liverpool, engineer, for "certain Improvements which 

 are applicable to locomotive, stationary, and marine steam-engines'* — March 8. 



Warren de la Rue, of Bunhill-row, Middlesex, manufacturer, for " Improvements in 

 machinery used in the manufacture of cardboard and pasteboard." (A communication}. 

 —March 8. 



John Houston, of Stepney, Middlesex, surgeon, for " Improvements in obtaining mo- 

 tive power by the aid of atmospheric air, and in obtaining combustion." — March S. 



George Royce, of Flelland, Lincolnshire, for " Improvements in machinery or appara- 

 tus for depositing, cleansing, and grinding corn and seed."— March 8. 



George Lloyd, of Stepney, Middlesex, iron-founder, for "certain Improvements iu 

 furnaces and blowing machines, and improvements in engines and machinery for driving- 

 the same, which improvements are also applicable to other purposes where motive power 

 is required." — March H. 



Joseph Maudslay, of the firm of Maudslay, Sons, and Field, of Lambeth, engineers, 

 for "certain Improvements in obtaining and applying motive power, and in the ma- 

 chinery and engines employed therein." — March 8. 



John M'Conochie, of Liverpool, engineer, and Louis James Claude, of Bootle, Lanca- 

 shire, engineer, for " certain Improvements in locomotive engines.** — JIarch 8 . 



Alexander Alliott, of Lenton works, in the county of Nottingham, bleacher, for " Im- 

 provements in apparatus used in the working of steam-boilers, also in apparatus used in 

 cleansing flues." — March 8. 



John Henderson Porter, of Blackheath, Kent, engineer, for " Improvements in iron 

 girders, beams, trusses, and supports, and in rendering the floors of buildings fire-proot 

 by the use of iron." — March 8. 



Henry Bashard Hobdell, of the city of Oxford, goldsmith, for " Improvements iu 

 studs and buttons." — March !'. 



George Coode, of Haydock-park, Lancashire, fi^r "an Improved methcd or methods 

 of distributing over hind liquids and substances in a liquid or fluent state, and certain 

 improved apparatus and machinery employed therein." — March 11. 



John Ashbury, of Openshaw, near Manchester, for "certain Improvements in the 

 construction and manufacture of wheels for use upon railways and common roads, and 

 in the methods of preparing and constructing the tyres used thereon." — March 1 1. 



Alexander Alliott, of Lenlon Works, Nottingham, bleacher, for " Improvements ij 

 spring apparatus and in balances, also in breaks, and in the means of working breaks."— 

 March 14. 



James Porritt.ofEdenfield, Lancashire, for "certain Improvements in carding-engines 

 for carding wool and other fibrous substances." — March 14. 



Frederick William Michael Collins, and Alfred Reynolds, both of Charterhouse-square, 

 Middlesex, engravers and printers, for " Improvffments in the art of ornamenting china, 

 earthenware, and glais," — March 14. 



John Hosmer, of New Cross, Surrey, surveyor, for " Improvements in apcaralus for 

 supplying water and for cleansing drains and sewers." — March 10. 



George Ellins, of Droitwich, Worcestshire, salt manufacturer, for certain " Improvu- 

 ineuts in manufacturing salt, and in apparatus for manufacturing salt.'*— March 22. 



William Edwaid Newton, of Chancery-lane, Middlesex, for "an Improvement or im- 

 provements in moking coupling joints for pipes, nozzles, stop-cocks, still and cylinder 

 heads, and othtr apparatus." (A communication.)— March 2'i. 



Henry Bessemer, of Saint Pancras-road, Middlesex, for " Improvements In the manu- 

 facture of glass.*'- March 22. 



William Henderson, of Park-head, Lanarkshire, Scotland, chemist, for " Improve- 

 ments in treating lead and otlier ores." — March 22. 



Joseph Orsi, of Guilrihall-charnbers, gentleman, for "certain Improvements in the 

 manufacture of artificial stone, cements, ornamental tiles, bricks, and quarries." (A 

 communication,)— Blarch 22. 



William James Dailey, of Lambeth, Surrey, lithographer, for " certain Improvements 

 in machinery for propelling,"- March 22. 



John Lawes Cole, of Lucaa-street, Middlesex, for "certain Improvements !□ steam- 

 engines. '*— March 22. 



