Description of a Ventilator , 8£ci 
307 
No. 40. 
Description of a cheap and efficacious Ventilator for pre- 
serving Corn on Ship-board . By Thomas Sqjjth, 
Esq.* 
(With a Plate.) 
THE importation of grain is a precarious traffic. The 
produce of distant countries, or even of those near home* 
when long in collecting, or long detained on ship-board* 
is subject to heat, soon becomes fetid, and is often so far 
spoiled and depreciated in its value as to sell for less than 
the original cost. Hence the merchant, overwhelmed 
with losses, regrets his patriotism, grows shy of impor- 
tation, and, unless invited by a certainty of gain, drops 
the trade, even whilst the nation stands in need of sup- 
plies. 
The remedy here proposed is a simple, cheap, and, I 
trust, efficacious method of ventilating grain whilst con- 
fined on ship-board ; sufficient, I presume, to keep it 
sweet and marketable after sustaining a tedious voyage. 
Description of the Ventilator , ivith Deferences to the 
Figures thereof (See Plate 9, fig. 1 to 7*) 
Fig. 1, is a cylindrical air-vessel or forcing-pump, of 
lead, tin, or other cheap metal ; its internal diameter be- 
ing ten inches, and its length three feet ; having a crutch- 
handled piston to work with, and an iron nosle, viz. a 
hollow inverted cone, two feet long, to condense the air, 
and increase its power in its passage downwards. This 
cylinder should be riveted or screwed, by means of an 
iron collar or straps, to the deck it passes through, both 
* Tillocb, v. 5, p. 393. From the Letters and Papers of the Bath and West- 
of-En gland Society for the Encouragement of Agriculture, &G. 
