TRANSACTIONS OP SECTION G. 737 



gauged to the greatest nicety by its varying colours, and that it can be fluid, 

 plastic, elastic, and brittle, in the space of five minutes. That at 3,500° F., or 

 pale chrome tint, it is well adapted to be cast in heated moulds ; at 2,000°, or 

 orange lint, to be moulded with tools; at 1,00U°, or red tint, it is eliistic, and 

 almost undamageable ; and at less than 10U°, or green tint, it is quite brittle. 



The author then proceeded to describe his invention, which is based upon the 

 foregoing characteristics or qualities of glass, and showed first, that a bottle made 

 by his process is absolutely homogeneous, being made by casting, then punching, 

 and then blowing. The casting giving the primary external shape to ring, neck, 

 and body ; the punching giving the internal shajie of neck ; and the blowing com- 

 pleting the bi)ttle after the bottom has been flattened with the paddling tool ; and 

 he illustrated his remarks by showing bottles in various stages of manufacture, 

 together with diagrams of the same, and also of the parts of the machine by which 

 thev had been made. 



iNIr. Fairley, Borough Analyst of Leeds, has tested eight bottles sent to him 

 for the purpose with his hydraulic tester, up to a maximum of 400 lbs. per square 

 inch, internal pressure, and not one of them gave way, and this enormous streno-th 

 is explained as the result of the casting of the bottle, at a temperature of 3,500°, 

 ■which allowed the molecules to flow by gravitation, and so to adjust themselves in 

 the mould as to make distortion or crushing impossible. 



It was also shown that not only was the new process a very great saving to 

 the manufacturers, as one boy can make three bottles per minute with the machine, 

 but also that it is a very easy and healthful occupation ; whereas bottle-blowers by 

 the old process only attain an average age of thirty years. 



4. T/te Utilisation of Fibrous Peat for the Manufacture of Broini Paper, 

 Wrappers, and Millboards.^ By J, A. London. 



The author said his object was to show the practical uses of suitable peat 

 fibre as a raw material in the manufacture of brown paper, wrappers, and mill- 

 boards, and its economical use in many ways. 



The machine the writer uses for treating this material is a ' Willow ' or 'Devil,' 

 consisting of one drum 3 ft. diameter by 12 inches on the face. This drum 4 

 covered with a concave. Both the drum and concave are furnished with cone- 

 shaped teeth, so that the fibre cannot adhere to the teeth ; but the principal ad- 

 vantage is that the teeth can be set to fibreise to any degree of fineness. Owing to 

 the speed at which it runs, no fibre hangs about the machine, and it will fibreise 

 or tear the peat fibre in a wet or dry state. 



5. Hydraulic Apparatus for Railway Signalling. By C. E. Carr, 



The object of the apparatus, as described by the author, is to combine in one 

 lever the operations of moving a pair of switches and the protecting signals. 



The points are actuated by a double-acting piston in a small cylinder placed at 

 a convenient distance from the rails ; the signals by single-acting "pistons similarly 

 placed, the arms being weighted as in the ordinary arrangement and flying to 

 danger as soon as released. 



The motive power, generated in a convenient place and stored in an accumu- 

 lator placed near the signal-hut, is conveyed to the actuating pistons by a pipe ; 

 the valves governing the pressure are connected by rods to the actuating lever in 

 the signal-box. 



This lever works in a quadrant furnished with notches, and is secured in any 

 desired position by a detent. The normal position of the lever is upright, and it 

 can be moved in either direction. 



Taking as an example an ordinary cross-over road, if the handle is moved to 

 the right and placed in the first notch, the locking bars would first be moved so aa 



' S3C Newcastle Daily Chronicle, September 14, 1889. 

 1889. 3 b 



