1*6 REPORT — 18G5. 



mechanical force in any manner is studiously avoided ; and that, on the contrary, 

 advantage has heen taken of the natural property of peat, suitably prepared, of 

 contracting as it parts with its moisture, and becoming perfectly solid and cohe- 

 sive. To separate the water, the peat travels upon endless bands, within a close 

 chamber, exposed to currents of heated air, by which the moisture is effectually 

 extracted ; the blocks of peat being turned up on all sides in succession, so as to be 

 equally and regularly dried, and emerging dry, hard, and dense. To the peat sub- 

 stance thus prepared the name of "torbite" has been given; and it was stated 

 that it could be delivered at a cost of from 10s. to 12s. per ton. In the subsequent 

 stage, the conversion of the torbite into charcoal, it was pointed out that the fatty 

 and other matters disengaged during the charring process were valuable commer- 

 cial products, the sale of which alone would nearly cover the cost of the whole 

 process. Some experiments were described, proving the suitability of torbite and 

 its preparations for purposes of generating steam and smelting iron ore, and in the 

 other stages of the manufacture of iron. It was contended, therefore, that the 

 problem of the probable utilization of peat had at last been solved. It was stated, 

 in conclusion, that the bogs of Great Britain and Ireland cover an area exceeding 

 five millions of acres, the average depth of which might be taken at twenty feet ; 

 and that the benefits of the utilization of peat on the large scale, particularly for 

 Ireland, could scarcely be over-estimated from an industrial point of view. 



On a Machine for stitching Button-holes. By J. M. Clements. 



The paper stated that the almost universal adaptation of the sewing-machine to 

 manufacturing as well as domestic purposes, had given rise to a demand for a 

 machine for working button-holes, most of the large manufacturing clothiers in 

 England and the shirt-makers in Belfast and other towns of Ireland having for 

 several years expressed their desire for, and great want of, such a machine. Having 

 noticed the various attempts made to produce a button -hole stitching machine, the 

 paper described that introduced to notice by the writer, and proceeded to point out 

 that it could be applied, not only to fine work, but also to heavy work, such as 

 sail-making, railway sheets, or carpet-making. The machine would work sixty or 

 seventy holes per hour, both sides alike, and with a lock stitch. 



On a new Cotton Gin for separating Cotton Fibre from the Seed. 

 iJy E. A. Cowper. 



This gin is composed of a roller having strips of leather on its surface at intervals, 

 and strips of pointed surface between them ; the roller revolves continuously, and 

 there is a blunt steel blade, which is caused to approach the roller, and recede 

 from it at intervals, by means of eccentrics, which also move it up and down both 

 in the direction of the surface of the roller and in the opposite direction. In addi- 

 tion to this roller and blade there is a vibrating beater to push off the seeds, this 

 last action being very similar to the motion of a beater in a MacCarthy gin. The 

 eccentrics are on a small crank-shaft that moves the beater, and which has a 

 pinion on it, driven by a wheel on the roller-shaft. This gin differs from all 

 others in its complete intermittent action, and it also acts on an entirely new 

 principle, viz., that of nipping fast hold of the cotton-fibre close up to the seed (just 

 as it might be taken fast hold of by a person's finger and thumb) whilst the seed is 

 separated. The steel blade recedes from the roller when fibre is entering, and then 

 nips upon it and holds it fast close up to the seed whilst the beater pushes off the 

 seed. In consequence of the fibre being thus locked fast in the jaws it has been 

 called the " Lock-jaw Gin," one side of its jaws being formed of the strips of com- 

 mon leather on the roller, whilst the jaw on the other side is formed of the blunt 

 steel blade, caused to approach the leather surfaces when nipping by means of eccen- 

 trics. This machine does its work so effectually and quickly that it gets through 

 several times as much work as a common "MacCarthy gin" can, and many times 

 as much as an " Indian Churka," and at the same time gives a decidedly increased 

 length of staple from a given sample of cotton. This new principle of action in 

 separating cotton-fibre from seed, promises to cause as great a change and improve- 

 ment in ginning cotton as Heilmann and Lister's invention did in the combing of 



