564 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



portant novelty and worthy of consideration. The plan might be regarded 

 as nearly perfect if the carbonic acid gas did actually remain separate and 

 uncombined with the ordinary air. It has been proved by recent experi- 

 ments, relating to the osmetic force and the diffusion of gases, that car' 

 bonic acid gas will pass upwards and hydrogen gas downwards to inter- 

 mingle with other gases. In these cases the force of diffusion overcomes 

 the force of gravity. 



Sartain's engraving from Schussele's painting of " Men of Progress," 

 ■was presented for the inspection of the members. Of the gentlemen 

 represented in the engraving the Chairman made the following remarks: 



Men of Progress. 



The new engraving admirably executed by Sartain from Schussele's fine 

 painting of eminent American inventors is before us to-night, and some 

 notice of the men, will not now be inappropriate. First, let me direct your 

 attention to the benign features of the one best known to me, the Rer. 

 Dr. Nott, President of Union College, who has passed his ninetieth year, 

 and has held his present post for nearly sixty years. He was the first to 

 burn anthracite coal successfully in stoves; prominent among his many 

 improvements is the application of the transverse draft, directly above a 

 moveable grate, which made his coal burner self-feeding. He early con- 

 structed a steamer for the North river called " The Novelty," which had 

 boilers made up of water tubes, heated by means of hard coal, to which air 

 was furnished by means of fan blowers. He has obtained thirty patents 

 for improvements in heating. Dr. Nott was born in Ashford, Connecticut, 

 in the year ;ltT3. 



Prominent in the central part of the engraving is Peter Cooper, born in 

 the city of New York 1191, the founder of the great free institution which 

 bears his name. He has made the larger part of his fortune in the manu- 

 facture of glue, isinglass and iron. He has taken out many patents, and 

 was the first to roll wrought iron beams for fire proof buildings. 



Joseph Henry, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution at Washington, 

 was born at Albany, N. Y., in 1791. While professor of mathematics in his 

 native city, he began a series of experiments in electricity, and was the 

 first to construct electro-magnets of great powei'. One now in the college 

 at Princetou, N. Y., will sustain 3,600 pounds by means of a battery con- 

 tained within one cubic foot of space. In 1831 he communicated signals, 

 made by means of the electro-magnet, through more than one mile of wire, 

 and thus prepared the way for the complete magnetic telegraph. He baa 

 long been ranked as one of the leading savans in America. 



Samuel Finley B. Morse was born in Charleston, Mass., in 1^91. After 

 graduating at Yale, he studied painting under Benjamin West. While 

 holding the position of a professor in the New York University, he comple- 

 ted his electro-magnetic telegraph. This simple yet important invention 

 consists essentially in causing the motion of a lever in only one direction, 

 produced by means of the electromagnet, to make a single dot and continu- 

 ous liiie upon paper, which is carried forward under the lever by clock 

 work. Thus by means of an alphabet of dots and lines alone, he completed 



