AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 543 



Linen or cotton thread may be used for the under thread, and 

 silk for the upper. The under thread will not show on the sur- 

 face of tlie goods. The length of the stitch is altered by turning 

 a thumb-screw. By making the stitch long, adjusting the feed 

 wheel, and running the machine quickly, that kind of sewing 

 known as "gathering" may be performed with great facility. 

 ANCIENT COACH-MAKING. 



The Roman Emperor Commodus, had carriages so contrived 

 that at his pleasure any part of it was made to admit light or air, 

 or exclude both. And these coaches were so many odometers, so 

 that he could see at a moment the distance traveled; also chro- 

 nometers, showing the exact time. 



The Emperor Publius Helvius Pertinax had all these, as well 

 as the rest of his matters, sold at public auction in A. D. 194. 



Mr. Backus called Mr. Earned to the Chair, and invited Mr. 

 Montgomery to speak on the subject for this meeting, (viz :) 

 STEAM BOILERS. 



Mr. Montgomery said that he had hoped that this subject would 

 have been deferred until next September, when his models, &c., 

 necessary for clear demonstration of his ideas, would be ready. 



But the Club urged him to say something now. He said he 

 would endeavor to say, as well as he could under these circum- 

 stances if the Club would pardon his inefficiency. 



On the regular subject of boilers, which had been assigned for 

 this evening, Mr. James Montgomery, the inventor of the Mont- 

 gomery patent boiler, promised what it would seem must prove 

 an interesting paper, illustrated by models and large diagrams, at 

 the first meeting of the Club in September. Being urged to speak, 

 without preparation he gave a bri^f history of boilers, extending 

 back to the days when John Fitch bolted down planks to form a 

 strong, steamtight cover on a common potash kettle. The first 

 improvement was the long " plain cylinder" boiler, now in com- 

 mon use for factories; the next the " return-flued," now common 

 on the western river boats; then the "fire-box" boiler, used on 

 our river and ocean steamers, with the fire entirely inclosed 

 within the shell of the boiler, and requiring no brickwork; the 

 next the " locomotive " boiler, being the same, with many small 



