1846.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



GI 



in the possibilitij of tlieir having been seen by some one among your readers 

 and correspondents, who iu such case will probabli/ comniuuicate what he 

 knows respecting them. If no oue else, the present Marquis of IJristol, no 

 doubt, can, and no doubt also, would afford me the information which at 

 present I endeavour to elicit through your Jourual. I dare say it would 

 be the very first and last time of his Lordship's being ever troubled with 

 so eccentric an application — one paying him the compliment of my talcing 

 such very strange iuterest iu his mansion at Ickwortli. 



Strauge as in the opinion of most persons such course would be, in my 

 own opinion it is infinitely iiiore strange that so remarkable a piece of archi- 

 tecture as that mansion is, should have altogether missed the celebrity 

 which many structures far less deserving of it have obtained. Most of the 

 houses shown in"\'itruviussis" *' Views of Seats," and similar collections, 

 are scarcely worth showiu^^, at all — as studies, or as architecture mere 

 nullities — things not worth the powder and shot of engraving them ; where- 

 as Ickworth is unicjue if ouly on account of the lavish display of sculpture 

 ia relievo ou its exterior. Yet do those who can tell to a hair'sbreadth 

 every admeasurmeut of the Partlieuon, know not of even the existence of 

 Ickworth. 



I remain, your's, &c.. 



Eccentric. 



REGISTER OF NEW PATENTS. 



If additioral information be required respecting any piUent, it may be obtained at the 

 office of tllis Journal. 



PURIFYING OF GAS. 

 Henry Phillips, of Clist Honiton, Devon, Chemist, for " Improvements 

 injmrifi/ing Gas." — Granted April 15; Enrolled Oct. 15, 1845. 



In the purifying of gas by lime two means are resorted to, called the wet 

 and the dry lime processes; in some works one only of the two processes is 

 used ; in other works both processes are used consecutively, and the lime 

 employed for each process (where both are used) is fresh lime. The object 

 of the present invention consists in using for the wet lime process the lime 

 which has been previously employed for the dry lime process, by which a 

 considerable saring of lime will result. The gas is first passed through the 

 wet lime purifiers, and then through the dry lime purifiers ; new or fresh 

 lime in the ordinary manner is employed for the dry lime process, and after- 

 wards this lime is used for the wet process, to be immediately mixed with 

 water, in a vat, vessel, or other receiver, to prevent it from becoming bard— 

 which lime, by means of additional portions of water, is brought to the pro- 

 per consistency for the wet lime process in the same manner as if using fresh 

 lime for such purpose ; and such mixture of lime is applied in the ordinary 

 apparatus used for the wet lime process. 



PROPELLING RAILWAY CARRIAGES. 



Elijah Gallowav, of the Strand, for " Improvements in propelimg rail- 

 way carriages." — Granted April 10; Enrolled Oct. 10, 1845, {With En- 

 graving, Plate III.) 



This invention is for certain improvements in rope traction, the object 

 being to propel the train ef carriages at a speed greater than that of the tra- 

 velling or propelling rope, and is effected by means of an apparatus termed 

 a " drag," attached by any convenient means to the first carriage forming the 

 train. The following is a description of the apparatus, reference being had 

 to the drawings of which fig. 1 is an elevation ; fig. 2 a plan ; and fig. 3, an 

 end view. Similar letters denote corresponding parts in each figure ; a «, is 

 a rectangular or oblong frame supported on travelling wheels b b, which run 

 upon auxiliary rails placed within those upon which the train of carriages 

 move, the whole apparatus being so constructed as to pass underneath the 

 carriages forming the train, or in other words that the train shall pass over 

 the drag, c c' are two shafts supported at each end in suitable bearings at 

 d d; upon each of the shafts c c' there are pullies e/", of different diameters ; 

 g g, h h, are two ropes extending the whole length of the line, the one marked 

 with the letters g g being a travelling rope, the other marked with the 

 letters h h, being a fixed rope, the ends thereof being attached to a fixed 

 point at the termini of each station. The ropes g and Ii pass round the 

 pullies e e', HTLifJ' in the following manner, namely, the rope g g', which is 

 the travelling rope passes under the pulley e', over the pulley e, and round 

 the driving pullies or drums connected with the engine at each station. It 

 ■will therefore be evident tliat if motion be given to the rope g g', such mo- 

 tion will be imparted to the pullies e e',ff', the carriage or drag a a, at the 

 same time remaining stationary. We will now suppose the stationary rope 

 7( h to pass under the pulley /', and partially round the pulley/, and to be 

 fixed at each end. By this arrangement it will be apparent that if motion 

 be given to the pulbes e e',f/' by the travelling rope g g, such motion would 

 be transmitted to the rope h h, which would (if it were loose) travel at a 

 greater velocity than the rope^-, in consequence of the difference in the 

 diameters of the two pullies e and J". But in consequence of the rope h h 

 being a fixed rope, it nece.'sarily follows that such motion will be given to 

 the drag, which will travel upon the auxiliary rails at a speed double or 

 treble the speed of the propelling rope, depending upon the difl'ereace in 



diameter of the pullies e and /. By this contrivance the stationary engines 

 will only be required to work at one-third or one-half the speed (depending 

 on the dift'erent diameters of the pullies,) in order to obtain tlie same velo- 

 city as trains worked on the lines constructed on the present principle. 



Mr. G. proposes at each station to detach the drag from tlie train of car- 

 riages whicli are taken up and propelled by another drag to the next station ; 

 the train of carriages in arriving at the station passes over the drag ; for this 

 purpose the carriages must either be constructed so that the drag can pass 

 under them or a recess must be made at each station for the drag to run into, 

 so as to lower it sufficiently for the axles of the carriages to pass over. Thv 

 pullies e e' auAff are capable of being disconnected by means of a clutch- 

 box, so that the train can be stopped at any part of the line without stopping, 

 the stationary engines. 



RAILWAY CARRIAGE BUFFERS. 



Thomas Walker, of Euston Square, mechanic, and George Mills, o 

 Dover, coal merchant, for *^ improvements in springs and elastic power a 

 applicable to railway caniages and other vehicles, and to otiier articles an 

 purposes in w/tich springs or elastic power is noir used." — Granted July 3 

 1845; Enrolled Jan. 3, 1S4G. 



This invention for springs and elastic power consists in the application of. 

 steel springs or other elastic substance in combination with atmospheric air to 

 buffers of railway carriages. Fig. 1 sliows a longitudinal section of a buffer 

 constructed according to this invention, in which a rt is a cylinder of cast iron,. 

 b b are the bufl'er-rods which pass through holes formed in the end of the 

 cylinder ; c c are pistons made to fit tight within the cylinder, which io 

 divided into two compartments by means of a diaphragm e; f/are holes ia 

 the piston, which are provided with valves opening inwards ; g g are spiral 

 steel springs, one end of which presses against the diaphragm e, and the other 

 against the piston, so as to force the same outwards ; the object of the valve 

 is to admit air betv/een the piston, and diaphragm during its motion out- 

 wards, which air is prevented returning or escaping from such place by means- 

 of the valve aty; the object of this arrangement being that shculd a force be 

 applied to the bulTer, such force is not only counteracted by the spiral spring, 

 but also by the air contained within the cylinder, forming the bufi'er, whicii 

 becomes forcibly compressed, and thereby acts as a resisiing power to the 

 opposing force. 



Another modification of this buffer is shown at fig. 2, in which the inven- 

 tors employ elastic bags of India-rubber placed within cylinders, and filled, 

 with atmospheric air which is supplied through openings at g g. 



Another part of this invention consists in a peculiar mode of obtaining, 

 motive power, for which purpose the inventors have shown in the drawing 

 a sectional elevation of an engine to be worked by the vapour of ammonia, 

 which is contained in a boiler placed in a water bath heated to 212^. The 

 vapour or motive power obtained from the ammonia passes through the 

 eduction and induction pipes of a cylinder constructed in the ordinary mau- 

 ner, with the exception that the patentees employ India-rubber bags (similar 

 to those described), within the cylinders above and below the piston, the 

 object of which is to prevent the vapour escaping through the stuffing bo.v;. 

 or between the piston and sides of the cylinder. 



IMPROVED ARTIFICIAL MANURE. 



James Muspratt, Esq., of Liverpool, gentleman, for " Improvements ir- 

 the manufacture of manure." — Granted April 15 ; Enrolled Oct. 15, 1845. 

 (A communication from Prof. Liebig.) 



It has been ascertained, that the growing of any crop on land, and remov- 

 ing and consuming it wholly from the land where it was grown, takes away 

 certain mineral compounds ; and it has been suggested by Professor Liebig. 

 that in cultivating land and applying manure thereto, that the manure should 

 be such as to restore to the land the matters and the quantities thereof, 

 which the particular plants have abstracted from the soil during their growth. 

 It has been observed in the chemical examination of marls and vegetable 

 ashes, that the alkaline carbonates and the carbonate of lime can form com- 

 pounds, the solubility of which depends on the quantity of carbonate of 

 lime contained in the particular compound. It has further been found, that 

 the said alkaline carbonates can form a like compound with phosphate of 

 lime, in which the carbonate of potash or soda is partly changed into phos- 

 phate of potash or soda. Now the object of this invention is to prepare 

 manure in such manner as to restore to the land the mineral elements taken 

 away by the crop which has been growu on and removed from the land, and 

 in such manner, that the character of the alkaline matters used may be 

 changed, and the same rendered less soluble, so that the otherwise soluble 

 alkahne parts of the manure may not be washed away from the other ingre- 

 dients by the rain falling on the land, and thus separating the same there- 

 from. And it is the combining carbonate of soda or carbonate of potash, dt 

 both with carbonate of lime, and also the combining carbonate of potash and 

 soda with phosphate of lime, in such manner as to diminish the solubility of 

 the alkaline salts to be used as ingredients for manure (suitable for restoring 

 to land the mineral matters taken away by the crop which may have been 

 grown on and removed from the land to be manured), which constitutes the 

 novelty of the invention. 



Although the manures made in carrying out this invention will have 

 various matters combined with the alkaline carbonates, no claim of inventioa 



