986 Transactions of the American Institute. 



April 16, 1868. 

 Prof. S. D. Tillman iu the chair. 



Dr. Feuclitwanger, who had just returned from a visit to Nova 

 Scotia, presented specimens of iron ore from a recently discovered 

 bed near Truro, which contained from sixty to sixty-five per cent 

 of pure iron. Plenty of Avood and good soft coal, from which 

 charcoal or coke can be made, are found in the neighborhood of 

 the ore. Pig-iron could be made there for seven dollars in gold 

 per ton. 



NEW OIL FEEDER. 



Mr. Pemberton exhibited Nickershaw's new oil feeders for the 

 journals of machinery. The white metal in these oil cups was 

 considered an excellent feature, for the reason that the white metal 

 will not oxidize, while brass or copper render the oil of a greenish 

 color, and frequently of a gummy consistence, that does not pro- 

 perly lubricate. 



ELECTRO-MAGNETIC LOCOMOTIVES. 



Mr. F. G. Fowler illustrated on the blackboard his new electro- 

 magnetic engine, and spoke as follows: 



This sketch represents an application of electro-magnetism for 

 producing mechanical motion, and applied to a useful purpose. 

 If I am rightly informed, none of the attempts for using this 

 aofent as a motor have been successful. We often hear it announced 

 that some scientific gentleman or sanguine inventor proposes to 

 drive a machine or propel a boat by electro-magnetism. That is 

 about the last of it, and, with the exception of the telegraph, and 

 some kinds of signaling and bell-ringing, electro-magnetism, for 

 the purpose of producing mechanical force, has in no case been 

 permanently successful. 



This machine is not one that somebody proposes to construct, but 

 one that has been in successful operation for more than a year; in 

 which time it has proved its superiority, not only in cheapness, but 

 by answering the purpose for which it was intended, better than 

 any other device. It is a small car propelled by electro-magnetism, 

 and relates to an improvement in that class of institutions known 

 as business schools. It originated with Prof. A. Davidson, and is 

 in practical operation in the Commercial College of Rutledge & 

 Davidson, at Springfield, Illinois. 



In order to l)ctter illustrate the application of this mechanism, I 

 might state that the exercises in these institutions, in the early part 



