MOOEE’S EUEAL NEW-YORKEE: AN AGRICULTUEAL AND FAMILY JOURNAL 
The soil is undeniably the result of the 
disintegration of all the formations, and a 
mixture of the constiUxents of the old and 
secondary rocks; but where and from whence 
the material of the sedimentaiy were de¬ 
rived, is a mooted and difficult question to 
solve. 
The next number will treat on the prob¬ 
able recession of Lake Ontario, and the pe¬ 
riod of that great catastrophe. r. t. 
MECHANICAL SCHOOL. i 
We find in the. Caytiga Chief of April 
23, an Address from a Cominittce of M. 
M. P. Nos. 1 and 6, of Lockport, upon tlic j 
general subject of education and the estab- j 
lishment of a School for Mechanics. We 
make a few extracts from the address— 
sufficient to give an outline of the proposi¬ 
tion: 
“A new system of education is suggested 
for the mechanical profession, a system of 
which, if perfected, will radiate the mind of 
our country. A system which will not on-^ 
ly prepare the ragged child of to-day to oc¬ 
cupy the highest post within the gift of a 
free people to-morrow, but to carve out a 
fame for himself by a life of usefulness far 
superior to statesmanship. 
The proposition, or suggestion, is that we 
establish Mechanical Schools similar to those 
of other professions, with the exception of 
supporting the institution with the labor of 
its students, and as anything contained in 
this address is intended only as suggestions, 
we hope all who read will endeavor to make 
as many improvements as possible upon the 
plan proposed. 
For several reasons, the first institution 
should be situated near the centre of the 
State. 
There should be in a retired part of the 
establishment, school rooms, where should 
be taught natural philosophy, chemistry, 
geometry, and all other branches which are 
taught in our best institutions of learning. 
There should bo a public hall for lectures, 
in which should be placed models of all th6 
machinery of which Ave have any knowledge. 
There should be an extensive library at¬ 
tached to the institution, containing all the 
mechanical and other useful works of the age. 
There should be at the head of such an 
institution, one of the best Professors, one 
who could combine theory with practice in 
the most beneficial manner to the students 
under his care. The person at the head of 
such an establishment should understand 
the Avhole history of mechanical science. 
The moral training should be attended 
to in all cases. Every thing of a sectarian 
nature should be carefully avoided. 
Mathematical, philosophical, chemical, 
magnetic, electro-magnetic, optical and oth¬ 
er useful apparatus, should be furnished, 
that every facility for obtaining useful knowl¬ 
edge may be at hand at all times. 
The number of hours of labor per day 
might be regulated in such a manner as to 
be conducive to the health of the student, 
as Avell as to sustain the institution Avithout 
pecuniary assistance from any other source. 
The funds needed to establish such an 
institution, complete the buildings, fit it out 
Avith furniture, provisions, and provide for 
preceptor and assistants, for one year, would 
be one hundred thousand dollars, or little 
less than, one dollar to each mechanic in 
the State. 
All Avill immediately discover the advan¬ 
tages of an institution for the education of 
mechanics, Avhen they contemplate that it 
requires years of study, closely connected 
with practice, to be a good mechanic, and 
without close application no man, hoAveAmr 
Avell endoAved Avith native talent, can suc¬ 
ceed Avell in any department of this compli¬ 
cated profession. The experience of a long 
hfe Avould not equal the amount of useful 
knoAAdedge Avhich might be imparted, and 
is noAV imparted, by many of our scientific 
mechanics in a single day. But hoAv much 
more might be imparted, if the mind Avas 
previously prepared to receive it by a thor¬ 
ough course of study, or a continued coAirse 
GEOLOGICAL PRESUMPTIONS. 
For the Rural New-Yorker. 
HEAT AND COLD. 
DREAMS AND SPECULATIONS. 
Caloric, heat, cold, as substances— mat¬ 
ter—o-ro. terms without any Amry concise 
ability of definite explanation. 
Heat is said to be the sensation felt on 
touching or approaching a heated body, or 
the cause of that sensation. The same may be 
said of cold. Heat has been defined as the 
absence of cold. Cold—frigidity—may AAith 
equal claims be said to be the absence of 
heat. Which is the principle —Avhich the 
principal^. Which the supernumerary— 
which the negation ? Cold will not extin¬ 
guish *heat —combustion—lieat annihilates 
cold. Ergo —heat is the supreme, cold its 
negative. 
Heat is the disturbance of molecular ar¬ 
rangement Friction, percussion, compres¬ 
sion—destruction by superior affinities, pro¬ 
duces it—sets free some latent principle— 
some invisible materiality, more subtle—at¬ 
tenuate, than light Like electricity it has 
its conductors and ?io?i-conductors. Like light 
it radiates Avith equal velocity. Is light ma¬ 
terial?-so is heat—so is electricity—so is 
everything that is sensible to human cogni¬ 
zance ; yea, and for aught'we know, others 
still more ethe. 'a' 
Fleat and oh' re among the important 
agents tha creole, change, mnlce and un- 
make, all \ isibh thing's. Tb^'lr agency is 
invisible and tncontrollable. Either can 
rend f i.iost lofty .nountains or burst the 
heaviest ordna' 
Tu‘d br )t or black cold metals equally de- 
st/oy vhe tissue of • oimal organization on 
-.(ngtou bed. t . Parry wintered where 
.'7 is ^ inter. C'A cold that the touch of! 
any saetal raisec. a blister as quick as if 
Ti,;- absence of the sun a A^ery 
hort .-erioii, e.id all things would be con- 
;ea:ed—a' Irozen lump of clay. Space 
aoc'v ; • atmosphere is a vacuum of in¬ 
tense and eternal cold, and unchangeable 
darkness; the rays of light pass Avithout any 
resistance—any friction—any absorption or 
reflection, or any effect. Its refraction from 
the atomic constituents of the atmosphere 
creates light and heat. The greatest heat 
and the most extreme cold knoAvn, are arti¬ 
ficial. The Oxyhydrogen Blow-^dpie of 
HaivE, and the Galvanic Electro current, 
produce the greatest heat; the frigorific 
mixtures of saline ingredients and ice, the 
greatest cold. The one vaporizes all things; 
the other solidifies all—almost. To sum up 
their eventful agencies. Heat is life—Cold 
is death. * 
NUMBER VII. 
Geologists haA^e assumed, and proved 
beyond cavil, that the soil, and the second¬ 
ary or sedimentary rocks—all those that He 
in nearly horizontal positions—are the re¬ 
sults of an after action, and not of the ori¬ 
ginal and primary creation, nor coeval with 
the nucleus and great mass of the globe. 
They all, or nearly so, contain organic re- 
mauis of animal and vegetable life, and 
therefore were a progressive creation—the 
result of the action of la\A s that govern mo¬ 
tion and matter. ' 
It is held that, in the early existence of 
this planet, before its motions and consist¬ 
ency had become fixed, it was subject to 
great aberrations of motion, and disturb¬ 
ance of surface, by the sinking of great ba¬ 
sins and the upheaval of mountains and con¬ 
tinents—that water was over its surface to 
a great depth, Avhich now fills tlie great 
oceanic reservoir, or is held in suspension 
by the atmosphere. All the materials com¬ 
posing the secondary strata, are found in 
the primitive rocks, except perhaps lime; 
and if the granular lime stones and marbles 
are primitive, and not metamorphic or sec¬ 
ondary deposits altered by heat, then all the 
materials are provided, necessary to consti¬ 
tute the sedimentary rocks, which are on an 
average about two miles in thickness. 
The agencies assigned, as the power that 
PORTABLE FORGE AND BELLOWS. 
Here is an improvement Avell Avorth the 
attention of blacksmiths, jewelers, and oth¬ 
er Avorkers in metals. Our engraving tells 
the Avhole story, so far as appearance is con¬ 
cerned. The “ ImproA'ed Patent Portable 
Forge and BelloAvs ” are compact, light, and 
easily moA'ed Avherever desired. The bel- 
loAvs is situated under the forge, and may 
be set in doors or out, ils most convenient 
The different sizes Aveigh from less than 100 
to over 400 lbs., suited to all kinds of Avork, 
from a dentist’s or jeAveler’s, to heavy smith’s 
work. Price ^20 to ^50 according to size. 
These forges can be procured of Mr. J. 
E. Cheney, 24 Exchange st, Rochester, to 
whom Ave Avould refer those wishing to ex¬ 
amine or purchase. ‘ - 
TRUE DEVOTION. 
injurious to religion. First, they exhibit it 
to others under a forbidding form, by cloth¬ 
ing it Avith the garb of so much unneces¬ 
sary austerity. And next, they deprive the 
world of the benefit which their example 
might afford, in draAving the line between 
innocent and dangerous pleasures. By a 
temperate participation of those Avhich are 
innocent, they might successfully exert that 
authority^ Avhich a virtuous and respectable 
character ahvays possesses, in restraining 
undue excess. They Avould show the young 
and unwary, at Avhat point they ought to 
stop. Th(;y Avould have it in their power 
to regulate, in some degree, the public man¬ 
ners; to check extravagance, to humble 
presumption, and put vice to the blush. — 
But, through injudicious severity, they fall 
short of the good they might perform. By 
an indiscriminate censure of all amusement 
they detract from the weight of their re¬ 
proof, AV'hen amusement becomes undoubt¬ 
edly sinful. By totally withdrawing them¬ 
selves from the circle of cheerful life, they 
deliver up the entertainments of society in¬ 
to the hands of the loose and the corrupt¬ 
ed ; and permit the blind power of fashion, 
uncontrolled, to establish its own standards, 
and to exercise its dangerous sway over the 
world. 
It is an error to believe, that devotion 
nourishes a spirit of severity, in judging of 
the manners and characters of others. Un¬ 
der this reproach, indeed, it has so long 
suffered in the world, that, with too many, 
the appellation of devout, suggests no other 
character but that of a sour and recluse 
bigot who delights in censure. But the 
reproach is unjust; for such a spirit is en¬ 
tirely opposite to the nature of true devo¬ 
tion. The very first traces which it imprints 
on the mind, are candor and humility. Its 
principles are liberal. Its genius is unas¬ 
suming and mild. Severe only to itself, it 
makes every alloAvance for others Avhich hu¬ 
manity can suggest It claims no privilege 
of looking into their hearts, or of deciding 
Avith respect to their eternal state. If your 
supposed doAmtion produce contrary effects; 
if it infuse liarshness into your sentiments, 
and acrimony into your speech; you may 
conclude, that under a ferocious appearance 
carnal passions lurk. And, if ever it shall 
so far lift you up Avith self-conceit as to make 
you establish your OAvn opinions as an infal¬ 
lible standard for the whole Christian Avorld, 
and lead you to consign to perdition all avIio 
differ from you, either in some doctrinal 
tenets, or in the mode of expressing them; 
you may rest assured, that to much pride 
you have joined much ignorance, both of 
the nature of de\’otion and of the Gospel 
of Christ.—i)r. Blair. 
that State, which is superior to any now in 
use, and on which he is taking measures to 
secure a patent. The log from Avhich the 
clapboards are to be manufactured is first 
saAved into six inch plank. A single hand 
tends the machine, which needs but to have 
the plank set to the saw—no further atten¬ 
tion is required till that plank is saAved into 
clapboards, Avhen the tender places another 
plank to be saAved. Thus the most of his 
time can be devoted to sorting his lumber 
and getting it ready for market. The ma¬ 
chine saAA’'s two clapboards at once. 
The inventor states that this machine 
will do nearly one-half more Avork in the 
same time Avith less help than any other, 
and Avill cost but about half as much as any 
machine now in use. He says that it is 
simple in construction, requires less prepa¬ 
ration of the log than any other machines, 
and Avill saAV stuff of any length, from tAvo 
to twenty feet. Orders and communica¬ 
tions relating to the subject should be ad¬ 
dressed to E. Stockwell, Farmington, Conn. 
mPEOVED PLOW. 
Mr. Jas. H, Rodgers, of Mt. Morris, LR- 
ingston Co., N. Y., has inA^ented a ucav im¬ 
provement in the manner of operating the 
beam of the ploAv, for enlarging or narroAv- 
ing the cut of the furroAv. A moveable 
beam to alter line of draught is not neAv, but 
the manner of operating the beam for that 
purpose by Mr. Rodgers, appears to be a 
good improA'ement. A cast iron box is fit¬ 
ted to the face of the inner stilt of the plow, 
and it has a flange above arid beloAv, to pre¬ 
vent the inner end of the beam from being 
directed up or doAvn and to hold it firm.— 
The beam is moved endAvays by a long- 
screw bolt, Avhich passes doAvn through the 
beam and body of the mould board, and 
answers for the axis on Avhich the beam is 
SAvmng, to change the line of its direction. 
The manner of keeping the beam snug to 
the stilt, and yet to change it accurately 
and easily, is something Avhich commends 
itself at once to favor. 
Measures have been taken to secure a 
patent.— Sci. Am. 
For the week ending May 7, 1850. 
To F. J. Austin, of New York, N. Y., for im¬ 
provement in printing presses. 
To E. R. Benton, of Milwaukie, Wis., for im¬ 
provement in bran-dusters. 
To J. Bogardus, of New York, N. Y., for im¬ 
provements in the construction of Jhe frame, roof, 
and floor of iron buildings. 
To J. L. Catbeart, of Washington, D. C., for 
improvc;«ieiit in air-heating stov'es. 
To C. C. Coolidge, (Assignor to F. Harrington 
&. C. C. Coolidge,) of Boston, Mass., for improve¬ 
ment in bedstead fastenings. 
To S. Davis, of Dartmouth, Mass., for adjusta¬ 
ble mouth-piece to road-scrapers. 
To M. Delluc, of New York, N. Y., for improA’e- 
menx in mechanical leeches. 
R. De Massay, of Bocourt, France, for improve¬ 
ment in defecating sugar. 
To P. Dorn, of Philadelphia, Pa., for improve¬ 
ment in overshoes. 
To D. D. Gitt, of Butler Township, Pa., for im¬ 
provement in plow cleaners. 
To J. R. Hyde, of Troy, N. Y., for improvement 
in cooking stoves. 
To R. Montgomery, of New York, N. Y., for 
improvement in the screw excavator. 
To J. L. Mott, of New York, N. Y., for im¬ 
provement in cooking stoves. 
To W. R. Nash, of Bridgeport, Conn., for im¬ 
provement in working a rotary and vertical churn- 
dasher. 
To Wm. Pierpont, of Salem, N. J., for improve¬ 
ment in straw-carriers. 
To C. Richardson, of Woburn, Mass., for ar¬ 
rangement of several slide valves in the same 
steam-chest. 
To Edme J. Leclaire & J. J. E. Barrnell, of 
Paris, France, for improvement in the manufac¬ 
ture of the oxide of zinc. Ante dated, Dec. 31, 
1845, Patented May 7, 1850. 
To A. L. Swan, of Cherry Valley, N. Y., for 
improvement in the melodeon. 
To T. C. Theaker, of Mansfield, Ohio, for im¬ 
provements in oscillating valves of steam engines. 
To A. Walter, of Middletown, Ind., for im¬ 
provement in machines for polishing stone. 
re-issues. 
To E. Wilson, of,Cincinnati, Ohio, forlmprove- 
ment in the method of rendering lard. Patented 
Oct. 9, 1844. Re-issued May 7, 1850. 
To B. Holly, of Seneca Falls, N. Y., for im¬ 
provement in pumps. Patented June 6, 1849.— 
Re-issued May 7, 1850. 
To S. Merrick, of Springfield, Mass., for im¬ 
provement in feeders for screw machines. Pa¬ 
tented March 7, 1846. Re-issued May 7, 1850. 
HOW TO BE happy. 
Said a venerable fanner, some eighty 
years of age, to a relative avIio lately visited 
him, “ I have lived on this farm for more 
than half a century. I haA^e no desire to 
change my residence as long as I live on 
earth. I have no wish to be any richer 
than I noAv am. I have Avorshipped the 
God of my fathers Avith the same people for 
more than forty years. During that period 
I have rarely been absent from the sanctu¬ 
ary on the Sabbath, and never have lost 
but one communion season. I have never 
been confined to my bed by sickness for a 
single day. The blessings of God have 
been richly spread around me, and I hav'e 
made up my mind long ago, that if I wish¬ 
ed to he any happier, I must have more re¬ 
ligion.—N. Y. Observer. 
Hints to Gas Consumers.— As gas ob¬ 
tained from coal or oil has noAV nearly super¬ 
seded every other kind of artificial light for 
both public and domestic purposes, its proper 
management becomes a matter of great im¬ 
portance. In the first place, the greatest 
care should be taken to prevent its escape 
into the apartments in which it is used; for 
as it forms, v,ffien mixed Avith common air, 
a highly explosive compound, resembling the 
fire-damp in coal-pits, both in constitution 
and properties, very dangerous accidents 
frequently happen from a neglect of this pre 
caution. To this end the taps of the various 
burnei'S,and especially of the main-feed pipe, 
should be turned so as to quite cut off all 
supply of gas. Should, hoAvever, the gas 
be found to have escaped, a light should 
never be introduced into the apartment until 
the upper sashes of windows have been open 
some time, and every available Avay of exit 
provided for the dangerous mixture of gas 
and air then in -the room.— Scientific Amer. 
RAIN.-CURIOUS FACT. 
There is one remarkable fact connected 
Avith the fall of rain, which has never yet 
received satisfactory e.xplanation. Over any 
given spot more rain falls at the surface of 
the earth than above it. Heberdon made 
some experiments to ascertain this fact, in 
the folloAving manner:—He fixed a rain- 
guage on the square part of the roof of 
Westminster Abbey, away from the west¬ 
ern towers, Avhich might obstruct the clouds, 
another on the roof of a neighboring house, 
and a third on the ground, in the garden 
of the same. The number of inches of 
rain caught on the Abbey roof Avas 12, on 
the house-top 18, and in the garden 22.— 
The illustrious French astronomer, Arago, 
has for many years noticed the fall of rain, 
at different heights, at the Observatory at 
Paris, and his results with Avhich hundreds 
of others agree, are like those of Heberdon. 
It is Avell known that the quantity of rain 
which falls at the foot of a mountain is con¬ 
siderably larger than that deposited on its 
summit. Many explanations have been of¬ 
fered of this curious fact, but none to which 
the scientific have given sanction. 
True Sublimity.— The eloquent and 
thrilling response of Kossuth to the Sultan’s 
demand, that he should renounce his relig¬ 
ion and embrace Mohammedanism, is wor¬ 
thy of a Luther, and of being regarded 
among those memorable sayings that in 
times of trial have been uttered by those 
Avho have been encouraged and sustained 
by the unfaltering trust inspired by the 
Christian faith. “ My amwer does not ad¬ 
mit of hesitation. Between death and shame 
the choice can neither be dubious nor diffi¬ 
cult. Governor of Hungary, and elected 
to that high place by the confidence of fif¬ 
teen millions of my countrymen, I know 
Avell Avhat I OAve to my country even in ex¬ 
ile. Even as a private individual, I have 
an honorable path to pursue. Once gov¬ 
ernor of a generous country—I leave no 
other heritage to my children—they shall 
at least, bear an unsullied name. God's 
will he done. / am prepared to die." 
mixture and combination of the materials 
composing their original constituents, and 
not as they are now found—the sand stones, 
limes and clay slates, mostly in separate 
strata, each by themselves, Avith occasional 
slight intermixtures. 
The objection that is urged to this* aubav 
of the subject—that these falling materials 
do not cover the high primitive mountains, 
many of which Avere presumably elevated 
before the commencement of this era—can 
only be answered by supposing that they 
Avere at that period covered by Avater, and 
from being precipitous, the materials were 
washed doAvn before consolidation, and dis¬ 
tributed on the planes, by the turmoil of 
agitated waters and confficting currents. 
Improvement of Printing Types. —The 
Scientific American says that Mr. Tobitt, a 
practical printer, has succeeded in introdu¬ 
cing into his establishment in New York, the 
use of word types. That is, he causes such 
Avords as the, and, in, to, and all the most 
common syllables to be cast on one body. 
By this method, the printer, instead of pick¬ 
ing up three types to form the Avord and, 
takes up but one. 
