CONSTRUCTION OF A BOAT WITH DOUBLE CONES. 
405 
miles. Kach yard of the highest iion rails, 
fit for a railroad, weighs 6*2§lhs. As there are 
1,760 yards in a mile, each mile of railroad, 
with a double track, will require 238 tons of 
rails, besides chains, screws, and bolts — 
amounting, in the whole, to at least 250 tons 
for iron per mile— 250, njrd tipiied by 3,000, is 
750,000 tons of iron, th^^ill shortly be used 
in the United States in the construction of 
railroads. Such is the demand for railroad 
iron in England for the American market, 
tiiat common bar-iron, which one year ago 
was worth only 6/. 10.>. sterling in Wales, is 
now worth 9<. lO.s. at the Welsh works, as 
appears by the Biitish Prices Current. It is 
stated in the New York [)apers, that at this 
time contracts have been actually made in 
England, by American houses, for 400,000 
tons of railroad iion to be shipped to this coun- 
try. — 9/. lOv. sterling is about 45 dollars of 
our money ; but railroad -iron costs more than 
common bar-iron, and is at this time worth at 
least 50 dollars per ton, at the works in W ales 
or Staffordshire. Four hundred thousand tons 
of iron, at 50 dollars per ton,\s twenty millions 
of dollars, Xhai the people of the United States 
are bound to pay to the English by their 
present contiacts for railroad-iion. If all 
the projected railroads of this country shall 
be laid down with British iion rails, we shall 
pay to the English nation, within the next seven 
years, at least fifty millions of dollars for 
railroad-iron. Ami yet we have in our moun- 
tains both iron ore and coal, of the best qua- 
lity, and in quantities sufficient to yield iron 
for the whole world. — American Railroad 
Journal. 
INTRODUCTION OF BURDEN’S 
BOAT INTO FRANCE. 
Baron Seguier, Member of the Institute, has 
constructed a boat after the plan of Burden’s, 
of two double cones lOO feet long, with the 
engine between them, which, with the boil- 
er, presents some improvements. M. Cave, 
a mechanical engineer, has also constructed a 
double boat, for the navigation of the canal of 
Somme. It differs from the preceding in 
being open at the surface, covered with a 
flooring, and has two keels and two helms. 
A similar boat has been constructed for the 
navigation of the Loire, between Nantes and 
Angers. — BuL Soc. Enc» i*Ind. Nat. 
SPECIFICATION OF THE PATENT 
GRANTED TO JAMES FERGUSON 
SAUNDERS, OF TENTERDEN 
STREET, HANOVER SQUARE, IN 
THE COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX, 
GENTLEMAN, FOR CERTAIN IM- 
PROVEMENTS IN CLARIFYING 
RAW CANE, AND OTHER VEGE- 
TABLE AND SACCHARINE JUI- 
CES, AND IN BLEACHING SUCH 
RAW JUICES.— Sealed September 1, 
1835. 
To all to whom these presents shall come, 
&c. &c. — Now know yc, that in compliance 
with the said proviso, I, the said James 
Ferguson Saunders, do hereby declare the 
nature of the invention and the manner in 
which the same is to be performed, are fully 
described and ascertained in and by the fol- 
lowing description thereof (that is to say) : — 
The invention relates to submitting the 
juice of the sugar cane, and other juices 
containing saccharine matter, to a process 
hereafter described, whereby the oily, muci- 
laginous, and other matters prejudicial to 
crystallization, are separated and precipita- 
ted, previously to applying heat to such 
juices in the pi’ocess of manufacturing sugar. 
According to the ordinary practice of pro- 
ducing sugar, particularly from cane juice, 
the same is, as quickly as possible, submitted 
to the application of heat, which, together 
with the admixture of alkalies, or other 
materials, cause the mucilaginous and other 
impurities to rise to the surface, in the form 
of scum, which is removed by the scummer. 
This is not only a troublesome process, 
and expensive, hut, at the same time, is not 
fully effectual in clarifying the juice, and, 
owing to the necessary application of heat, 
in order to conduct this part of the process, 
much of the impurities or matters prejudi- 
cial to crystallization, are so embodied with 
the saccharine properties of the juices, that 
they cannot be separated the one from the 
other previously to crystallization, by any 
subsequent process ; but by the invention, 
as communicated to me from abroad, these 
matters are more entirely separated previ- 
ously to the application of heat, and, at the 
same time, the fm'ther process of bleaching 
such juices may be effected more advanta- 
geously than heretofore by the application 
of animal or other charcoal. The invention 
consists in mixing, in a suitable vessel, 
earth with raw cane, or other juices contain- 
ing saccharine matter, stirring the same re- 
gularly in one direction as the earth is ap- 
plied; by this means the earth and muci- 
laginous and oily and other matters, preju- 
dicial to crystallization, take to each other, 
and, when left, will quickly subside and 
leave the pure or clarified juice at the top, 
which is to be drawn off and submitted to 
the ordinary process of evaporation, in or- 
der to concentrate it for crystallization. It 
may be here desirable to remark, that, on 
an extensive practical inquiry, and applica- 
tion of this invention, it has not been dis- 
covered that one description of earth has a 
materially different effect to others, but all 
have a like property of taking to the muci- 
laginous, oily, and other impurities, and 
precipitating them, thereby separating the 
same from the pure saccharine matter con- 
tained in the juice. As juices, even from 
the same vegetable substance, vary in qua- 
lity, no definite proportions of earth can 
