AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 699 



belief that if a machine was perfectly constructed and regularity 

 given to the motion of the carriage by furtlier mechanical arrange- 

 ment, the pointers being so adjusted as to give clear room for the 

 movement of each tracer, I think that a practiced eye will readily 

 read my vocalagrajjh. The chief difficulty is obtaining the 

 motions of the tongue. To obtain them correctly may be an insu- 

 perable difficulty, yet they may be obtained with sufficient 

 accuracy to give a varied form to the expression of each word, 

 which is all that is required. Walker, in his observations on the 

 Greek and Latin accent, says : " But 'till the human voice, which 

 is the same in all ages and nations, is more studied and better 

 understood, and till a ' notation of speaking sounds is adopted,' 

 I despair pf conveying my ideas on this subject with sufficient 

 clearness.'' He afterwards expresses his conviction that the 

 ancients had a notation of speaking sounds. 



Dr. Turner introduced Mr. M. S. Salter, of No. 372 Fourth 

 avenue, New- York. 



The Chairman requested Mr. Salter to state his patent method 

 of making malleable iron directly from the ore. 



Dr. Turner submitted a paper containing an account of it, which 

 was read, (viz:) 



The nature of the invention is the working of malleable iron 

 direct from the ore, and consists in expelling the impurities of 

 the ore by exposing it to a moderate heat during the first stages 

 of the process, and in then gradually increasing the temperature; 

 agitation is kept up throughout the operation. The whole pro- 

 cess is effected by one fire, and by a single furnace, of peculiar 

 construction, a side elevation of which is shown in our engraving. 



The furnace contains three chambers, ABC, arranged one 

 above the other, the heat of the lower chamber passing into that 

 next above, and so on. 



The fire-place, or grate for fuel, D, is at one end of the lower 

 chamber, from Avhicli it is partly separated by a double wall, E, 

 raised to a convenient height, and over which walls a space is 

 allowed for the passage of the draft. 



The draft passes horizontally, in a reverberatory manner, along 

 the entire length of the lower chamber, A, in the roof of which, 

 at F, there is an opening into the middle chamber, B; it passes in 

 the same manner through B, and thence througli the opening, G, 

 finally escaping by chimney H. 



The ores with the necessary materials for their reduction, are 

 introduced into the upper chamber, C, through an opening in the 

 roof; they are first suspended in the hopper-shaped receptacle, J, 



