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JUNE 14. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
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FRUIT GROWERS’ CONVENTION. 
The Fruit Growers’ Society of Western 
New York, will hold its Summer Meeting and 
Exhibition at the City Hall in Syracuse, on the 
27th day of the present month. An extensive 
exhibition of Cherries, Strawberries, Ac., is ex¬ 
pected, and interesting discussions will take 
place in relation to these and other fruits. The 
members of the Society, and all others interest¬ 
ed in the subject, throughout the Middle and 
Western Counties, are cordially invited to at¬ 
tend, and to bring all the specimens of fruits 
they may be able to furnish. 
The Convention will probably commence its 
session about 12 o’clock on the 27th, and con¬ 
tinue through a part of the 28th. 
J. J. THOMAS, President. 
J. B. Eaton, ? c , . 
H. E. Hooker, $ Secretaries. 
SELECT VARIETIES OP ROSES. 
The season of Roses is approaching, when 
the beauty and variety of this favorite flower 
will once more demand our attention and dis¬ 
crimination. A few remarks upon the more 
popular varieties will not under these circum¬ 
stances be deemed out of place. 
There is no flower more generally known to 
the people than the Rose, and certainly none 
which holds so high a position in their estima¬ 
tion. Interwoven as it has been by the poet, 
with his most glowing fancies, we need not feel 
surprised that it should have bec 9 me popular 
while its individual claims to preference are by 
no means light or insignificant. The facility 
with which it may be cultivated by the most 
inexperienced, makes it a favorite with those 
who have no disposition to enter deeper into the 
subject of horticulture than the means of grati¬ 
fying an innocent desire may prompt. A rose¬ 
bush may grace the cottage of the humblest 
worker, which increasing in size and vigor, as 
time advances, will one day become the admira¬ 
tion of the passer-by, and the pride of the 
dweller whose window it encircles; therefore 
no one who enjoys the blessing of a domicil, 
however humble, but should plant a rose._ 
Though neglected for a season, in the more im¬ 
portant concerns of every day life, it may ex¬ 
pand its flowers just at a time when their ap¬ 
pearance will awaken memories of hopes al¬ 
most forgotten, and serve to point to a brighter 
future, inspiring confidence in our ability to 
reach it. That such inspirations are due to 
causes as remote as those we have suggested, 
we are at no loss to show. 
The admirers of the Rose, as of most other 
flowers that have been increased in variety 
to so "great an extent, may be divided into 
two classes — those who admire the flower 
for its beauty and fragrance, or other attrac¬ 
tions, and those who, with the discrimination of 
the florist, discover at once the several points of 
perfection which have been agreed upon as a 
standard, or reject as deficient in these, the 
many new claimants to superiority which are 
annually ushered forth from the gardens and 
nurseries of the florists of Europe and America, 
few of them equal to those we have been culti¬ 
vating for years. 
We may at once conclude that the majority 
of our readers are unskillful florists—that is, 
that they admire the Rose for its general beauty 
and do not aim at discriminating between the 
endless mass of varieties now in cultivation. 
A little information, however, upon this sub¬ 
ject, is important to those who have a taste for 
the cultivation of the beautiful, and they must 
inform themselves which are the most se^ct 
varieties of Roses, in order to make such a se¬ 
lection from the mass as will meet the general 
approval, as regards size, form, color, and other 
points. 
The eye can always discriminate more or less 
between a flower of good form and that which 
is deficient, and by a little practice it results 
that almost imperceptibly the knowledge of va¬ 
rieties and colors, and distinctive marks, grows 
upon the amateur, until at length he becomes as 
skillful as the professional florist, frequently 
possessing much quicker perception of distinc¬ 
tion in color, Ac. 
Yhe varieties of the Rose family are now so 
numerous, that a large volume would be insuffi¬ 
cient to contain the descriptions of those in cul¬ 
tivation. To be able at once to distinguish any 
particular variety, would require more accuracy 
of observation than is commonly possessed by 
florists, yet many have a knowledge in this re¬ 
spect which is quite surprising. We are often 
told by casual observers that all these fancy 
names are so much humbug, designed to induce 
the inexperienced to purchase several plants 
instead of one; they even undertake to show 
that two dissimilar varieties are one and the 
same/just as one of our amateur planters might 
insist that the Austrian Fir and Scotch Fir 
were the same thing because his eye could not 
detect the difference. There are, however, 
many distinct varieties of Roses in the various 
classes into which they have been divided, and 
these preserve in a surprising degree, their in¬ 
dividual, distinctive marks so long as the nec¬ 
essary conditions for this preservation are com¬ 
plied with. 
Let those who desire to investigate the ques¬ 
tion of dissimilarity amongst varieties, stir out 
a little in the blooming season, and with cata¬ 
logue in hand, traverse the rose ground of some 
extensive cultivator, this idea of humbug may 
soon be dispelled, and the mind convinced that 
Nature is at least disposed to perpetuate variety. 
In a collection of several hundreds of distinct 
varieties, it is a difficult matter for an unskilled 
individual to make a judicious selection of a 
few dozen sorts. Without further preface, we 
annex a list of the leading kinds in each 
class, from which any person may choose such 
a number as he may require. 
Hybrid Perpetual or Remontant Roses.— 
Auguste Mie, rosy pink; Baron Prevost, deep 
rose, large and fine ; Caroline de Sansal, fine 
blush ; Dr. Arnal, bright crimson; Geant des 
Battailles, scarlet crimson; Duplessis Mornay, 
brilliant purple; Ludovic Letaud, delicate rose; 
Lion des Combats, crimson ; Mrs. Elliott, rosy 
purple; Pie IX., purplish rose; Reine des 
Fleurs, rosy pink; Victoria, pale blush, very 
double. 
Bourbon Roses. —Appolline, light pink; Sou¬ 
venir de la Malmaison, blush; Geo. Cuvier, 
carmine ; Jupiter, violet crimson. 
Noisette. —Caroline Marniesse, white, blush 
tinge; Solfatare, saffron yellow ; Jean d’Arc, 
white, blush centre ; Euphrosine, pale rose. 
Tea Scented Roses. —Arch Duchess Ther¬ 
esa, creamy white ; Triumphe de Luxem¬ 
bourg, buff; Devoniensis, creamy white ; Nar- 
cisse, pale yellow. 
Moss Roses. —Countess of Murinais, white; 
Crested Moss, white and rose; Luxembourg, 
purplish crimson ; White Bath, pure white. 
In the above list we have only enumerated a 
few of the most select varieties in the more im¬ 
portant classes. There is necessarily a great 
diversity of opinion, as there is of taste, among 
the rose fanciers, so that we cannot hope to suit 
all, or agree with all, either in the character or 
shade of the varieties named; if, however, our 
list serves to aid the novice in the selection of a 
few standard sorts which may be relied upon, 
its object shall have been attained. The Roses 
are just indicating a disposition to expand their 
beauties;—a few days of sunny weather, and 
they will announce their festival.—s. 
’ THE SPICY WINTERGREEN. 
Wno does not love the wintergreen with its 
pleasant, spicy flavor, and its rich scarlet ber¬ 
ries. How glossy are the leaves with their 
brilliant green. And then how charmingly 
hang the pendant bowl-like blossoms, hid al¬ 
most beneath those same beautiful leaves. Meek 
and humble though these flowers are, yet they 
guard treasures dear as life, -which they hedge 
about with an unspotted garment of innocence. 
Would the casual observer suspect so much 
worth and goodness lay concealed by these 
humble plants ? Among the fields of humble 
life, lie hidden many jewels of inestimable 
worth. Hearts throb in the lower walks of 
society that would honor angels, especially if 
the angels were earthly ones. So the most 
merit often makes the least show, and must be 
sought out to be known and appreciated. 
Through all the vicissitudes of weather 
wintergreen holds its unchangeable greenn. 
being endowed by nature with a Vitality that 
endures unchanged the rigors to which it is 
subject. As winter approaches we find the 
flowers have given place to beautiful scarlet 
berries. These are nearly globular, and at first 
sight show no particular singularity; and yet 
there is Infinite Wisdom displayed in that or¬ 
ganization. There is a tliorn-like filament ex¬ 
tending from the apex of the fruit. This is the 
persistent pistil, from which you notice fin 
sutures, or lines taking their departure toward ; 
the stem, stopping, however, before half the 
distance is traversed. The divisions made by 
these lines are readily elevated, beneath which 
you discover a nice five-angled capsule with 
five apartments filled with seed, which are thus 
safely sheltered from wintry rigor. The en¬ 
velop of the capsule is the original calyx of 
the flower now swollen into a berry, that will 
by spring have arrived to its full maturity when 
its color is of deep scarlet and its flavor most 
delicious. 
The generic name of the Spicy Wintergreen 
is Gaultheria, given it in honor of one Gaul- 
tiiier, a French physician of Quebec. It is in 
the Decandria Monogynia of the Linnean Sys¬ 
tem, classed naturally among the Ericaceae or 
Heathworts, where are also found the Whortle¬ 
berries, Cranberries, Ac. In this order are 
found sixty-six genera and one thousand eighty- 
six known species diffused in all parts of the 
globe, but more rarely in the torrid regions._ 
But a few species of this order are poisonous, 
some are medicinal, while the fruits of others 
are wholesome and nourishing. t. e. w. 
Soap Suds for Currant Busies. —A corres¬ 
pondent of the Indiana Farmer says :—“ I have 
found the cultivation of currants to be very 
profitable. By care and attention I greatly in¬ 
creased the size of the bushes and the quantity 
and quality of the fruit. My bushes are now 
about eight feet in height, and are remarkably 
thrifty. The cause of this large growth, I at¬ 
tribute in a great measure to the fact that I have 
been in the habit of pouring soap suds and 
chamber lye around their roots during the sum¬ 
mer season. I am satisfied from my own expe¬ 
rience and that of some of my neighbors, that 
this treatment will produce a most astonishing 
effect upon the growth and product of the 
bushes, and would advise others to give it a 
trial.” 
Sprouts Around Trees. —Allow no suckers 
or sprouts to issue from the roots of your fruit 
trees; cut them all even with the surface, and 
arrest every new development as soon as it ap¬ 
pears. Every particle of new wood from this 
point diminshes the vital force of the system, 
without yielding anything valuable in return. 
Pear trees are more seriously injured by a neg¬ 
lect of this duty, than other trees, as they are 
more delicate and less 'hardy.— Germantown 
1 Telegrayli. 
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EUROPEAN LARCH. 
The European or cpmmon Larch, (Larix 
europcea,) is a deciduous tree, and when robed 
in summer dress, is considered one of the most 
beautiful of its class. The leaves are clustered, 
very soft, rounded at the points, and of a light 
green. Cones ovate-oblong, erect, one inch in 
length, and of a dark brown color when ripe.— 
This tree is hardy, growing naturally upon the 
mountains of Italy, Switzerland, France and 
Germany, and attains its greatest perfection in 
the neighboorhood of catracts, avalanches and 
ravines. Even beside the icy glaciers of Savoy, 
some scattered specimens of it may be seen, 
seemingly disputing the power of the Frost 
King in that wondrous and appalling region. 
In summer time, it is delightful to witness the 
lively grassy-green hue of this tree, contrasted 
with the expanses of iron-colored heath, which 
may be generally seen associated with it, and 
which apparently bid defiance to the inroads of 
the cultivator. 
Excepting the oak, and Scotch pine, no tree 
suited to the climate of Britain has proved itself 
of more general use. It is a fast growing tree, 
not scrupulous as to where it is situated, and, 
though soon attaining to maturity, its wood is 
strong, tough, and imperishable. Hence it is 
found to be good substitute for the oak in’ship¬ 
building. Throughout the sea-port towns of 
Russia, it is in constant demand, for the pur¬ 
pose of constructing line-of-battle ships; and 
during the last tweuty years, it has been fre¬ 
quently used in Scotland, in the building of 
brigs and frigates. It has been found to resist 
the effects of the extreme changes of climate, 
and, that most trying of all tests—the alternr 
< oosure to air and water. 
Pictorially considered,the Larch is deficient. 
It is without grandeur ; and though it may be 
seen occasionally assuming an irregular and 
even noble outline, such a character belongs 
not to the species. It will, however, continue 
to be a favorite with many on account of its 
tender green verdure in April and May, and 
the beauty of its catkins. It is one of the first 
to awake at the call of spring ; and that circum¬ 
stance alone will always ensure for it a favorable 
foraumy. 
RECIPES FOR CAKES, ETC. 
Eds. Rural :—The following recipes I have 
found to be first rate : 
Mountain Cake. — One cup sugar, 2 eggs, y, 
a cup of butter, y, a cup of milk or water, 2 of 
flour. Teaspoonful cream tartar, y> teaspoon df 
soda, nutmeg. 
Jumbles. — One lb. of butter, 1 of sugar, 2 of 
flour, 3 eggs, cup of sour milk, 1 teaspoon of 
soda, roll in white coffee sugar. This will make 
a large batch—if a small quantity be wanted, 
take proportionately less of’material. 
Ginger Snaps.—O ne cup of butter, 1 of sugar, 
1 of molasses, y cup of ginger, teaspoon sola, 
mix stiff. 
A Small Sponge Cake. —One cup of sugar, 
y cup of milk, 1 egg, 2 teaspoons crea m tartar, 
1 of soda, butter size of an egg. 
Whigs. —Mix y a lb. of sugar with 6 oz. but¬ 
ter, 2 eggs, teaspoon cinnamon. Stir in 2 lbs. 
flour, a teacup of yeast, milk enough tt> make a 
stiff batter, when light bake in cups. 
Rochester, N. Y. Louise. 
ABOUT CAKES, ETC. 
As the request for domestic recipes seems to 
have created quite an excitement among the 
“ daughters” and “ girls” -of other parts, per¬ 
haps a few from this place would be acceptable : 
Tea Cake.— Three cups of sugar, one of but¬ 
ter, one of sour cream, one teaspoonful of salera- 
tus, three eggs, five cups sifted flour. 
Snow Ball Cake. —One-half cup of butter, 
one of loaf sugar, the whites of three eggs, one 
teaspoon saleratus, with flour enough tp^make 
light. 
Jumbles.— Three pounds of flour, two of su¬ 
gar, one of butter, eight eggs, one teaspoon of 
soda, a little carrui seed, and a little milk if the 
eggs are not sufficient. 
Cookies.— Six cups oQflour, two of sugar, one 
of butter, one of cream, one teaspoon soda, two 
eggs ; season to the taste. 
Soft Gingerbread.— Six cups flour, one of 
sugar, two of molasses, one of butter, one of 
cream, one .teaspoon saleratus, one tablespoon 
ginger, two eggs. A Yankee Girl. 
West Monroe, May, 1856. 
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LIST OF PATENTS, 
Issued from the United State* Patent Office for the 
week ending May 87, 1856. 
Lucius B. Adams, Smithfield, Pa.,Improvement in head 
blocks of saw mills. 
William Ball, Chicopee, Mass., improvement in steam 
stamps. 
James Beetle, New Bedford, Mass., improved car win¬ 
dow. 
Albert Bisbee, Columbus, Ohio, and Y. Day, Nashville, 
Tenn., improved pliotoeraphic pictures on glass. 
Martin Buck, James H. Buck, and Francis A. Cushman, 
Lebanon, N. H., improvement in brick machines. 
Wm. Clark, New York city, improved attachments for 
piano legs. 
Nathan S. ClerrfSnt, Worcester, Mass., improved breech¬ 
loading fire-arms. 
Wm. Clemson, East Woburn, Mass., improvement in 
grindimr circular saws. 
Charles T. Eames, Milford, Mass., improvement in boot- 
trees. 
Daniel Fitzgerald, New York, improvement in portable 
houses. 
Kingston Goddard, Philadelphia, Pa., improved method 
of securing nuts to carriage axles. 
Wm. B. Godfrey, Auburn, Iowa, governor for side wheel 
and ocean steamers. 
Emmons Hamlin, assignor to himself and Henry Mason, 
Boston, Mass., improvement in reed musical instruments. 
Wm. 0. Grover, Boston, Mass., improvement in sewing 
machines. ( ■ j^.-. 
Henry Gross, Tiflln, O., guard for circular saws. 
Elliot T. Miller, Charlestown, Mass., improved calipers. 
E. M. Hendrickson, Brooklyn, N. Y., improved lock and 
key. 
F. A. Hoyt, Boston, Mass., improvement in floats for 
steam boilers. 
S. C. Ketchum, Brooklyn, N. Y., improvement in sizing 
hat bodies. 
Wm. F. Ketchum, Buffalo, N. Y., improved mowing 
machines. 
C. K. Landis, Philadelphia, Pa., improvement in operat- 
steam engines. 
A. B. Latta, Cincinnati, 0., improved safety valves for 
steam engines. 
Wm. B. Lindsay, New Orleans, La., improvement in 
cotton gin. 
C. A. Mann, Jr., Pike, N. Y., improved excavator. 
Wm. W. H. Mead, Chestertown, N. Y., improved gover¬ 
nors for steam engines, &c. 
H. L. Mooney, and W. B. Carter, Astoria, 111., improve¬ 
ment in boring hubs. 
Marcus Ormsbee, Boston, Mass., new method of winding 
thread from skeins. 
Conrad Leicht, New York city, improvement in billiard 
cues. 
Philetus Phillips, Middletown Point, N. J., improvement 
in musical notation. 
Robert Pilson and S. P. Heath, Laurel, Md., improve¬ 
ment in looms. 
James Reynolds, New York city,new method of cleaning 
gutta percha, 
J. G. Ross, New York city, improvement in hand pro¬ 
pellers. 
Wm. J. Stevenson, New York city, improved self-sealing 
preserve vessels. 
Herman Winter, New York city, improvement in valve 
gear for steam engines. 
Samuel Gaty, St. Louis, Mo., improvement in ships’ 
capstans. 
Franz Uchatius, Vienna, Austria, (patented in Austria 
March 14. 1855.) improvement in making steel. 
Clark Tompkins and John Johnson, Troy, N. Y., im¬ 
proved rotary knitting machines. 
T. D. Worrall, Boston, Mass., improvement in securing 
plane bits. 
Jas. T. Youart, Troy, N. Y., improvement in grain and 
grass harvesters. 
Wm. D. Arnett, Cincinnati, 0., improved replaceable axle 
box for railroad cars. 
J. W. Fox, Durhamville, N. Y., improved method of 
drawing fluids from bottles. 
Henry White, Oneida Castle, N. Y., improved shingle 
machine. 
Harvey Miner and H. M. Stevens, New York city, and 
Wm. H. Saunders, Hastings, N. Y., improved coupling for 
vehicles. 
Daniel and George Tallcot, Oswego, N. Y., improvement 
in ships’ capstans. 
t. B. Richmond, Meadville, Pa.’, improved fellies. „ 
W. W. WieiY*ChiT;opee, Mass., and Wm. Grover, Hol¬ 
yoke, Mass., improved self-acting mules. 
George W. Zeigler, Tiffin City, Ohio, improvement in 
plows. 
0. S.C. Crane, assignor to S. M.’Tinkum, Taunton, Mass., 
improved corn shellers. 
J. F. Allen, New York city, assignor to N. L. Cole, Nor¬ 
wich, Conn., improvement in slide valves. 
Thomas Sands, Chelsea, Mass., assignor to himself and 
J. P. Lindsay, Roxbury, Mass., improvement in parlor 
organs. ...... , 
iv V-- RE-ISSUE. 
Albert Spencer and Albert E. Laing, assignees of Phin- 
eas Emmons, New York city, planking hat bodies, pa¬ 
tented April 19,1853. 
ADDITIONAL IMPROVEMENT. 
A. J. Gibson, Clinton, Mass., coupling for carriages, 
patented Sept. 12, 1854. 
DESIGN^. 
M. B. Dyott, Philadelphia, Pa., combined match safes, 
paper weights, and pin cushion. 
James Horton and Jno. Currie, assignor to Cox, Hager 
& Cox, Philadelphia, Pa., portable ranges. 
Albert Bosworth, Westfield, Mass., assignor to himself 
and T. H. Loomis, pianoforte legs. 
ARTIFICIAL PEARLS. 
These articles are made of tliin glass, perfo¬ 
rated in sucli a manner that they may be strung 
together, and mounted into necklaces, so as to 
resemble real pearl ornaments. The substance 
which is used to give the pearly lustre, is called 
the “essence of the East,” (essence d' orient,) and 
is prepared from the scales of a small fish, which 
is abundant in the Seine, in France, and is also 
found in the Thames and Rhine. These scales 
are prepared for use by introducing them into 
the water of ammonia, by which they are dis¬ 
solved. 
These ornaments were invented by a work¬ 
man named Jaquin, in the time of Catharine de 
Medicis, about the middle of the sixteenth cen¬ 
tury. The principal place of manufacture is in 
the department of the Seine, in France. Arti¬ 
ficial pearls are also made in Italy and Germa¬ 
ny, but the manufacture is not carried to great 
extent. The Italians borrowed their method of 
manufacture from the Chinese. The latter 
make pearls from a kind of gum, and then cover 
them with a coating of the nacreous liquid. 
These articles are known by the name of Ro- 
mau pearls. 
In ’ 1834, a French workman discovered a 
very heavy and fusible opaline glass, of a pearly 
color, which gave the beads the different 
weights, and varied forms found among real 
pearls. Instead of using wax, as formerly, gum 
is now used, by which great transparency is 
given .—Pen and Lever. 
Hew Composition for Picture Frames, Ac.— 
A patent has been taken out by E. Gibbs, Lbn- 
don, for manufacturing molded articles from a 
composition made of the asphaltum of tar and 
fine brick dust. This asphaltum is the residue 
left in the retorts m distilling gas tar to obtain 
naphtha. It is kneaded with one part of brick 
dust, and then molded into the proper form for 
picture frames, or any other article desired. 
From such cheap materials, it appears to us that 
a composition may be made which can be vul¬ 
canized, and from which many articles like 
canes and combs, might be manufactured.— 
Scientific American. 
SHARPE’S RIFLES. 
We had the pleasure, a few days since, of 
visiting Sharpe’s Rifle Manufactory in Hartford, 
Ct., and very rarely have we witnessed any me¬ 
chanical operation, where we have been so much 
interested. Nearly every part of the rifle is 
made by machinery. As in all other gun man¬ 
ufactories, the barrel is made of wrought iron, 
a piece some eighteen inches long, about two 
and a half wide, and a half an inch in thick¬ 
ness, being doubled together upon a rod, thus 
forming a cylinder of the same length, as the 
iron slip from which it was constructed. The 
caliber at this stage of the process is of course 
quite too large, but it is soon diminished in 
size, and the barrel at the same time is drawn 
out to its proper length, by the strokes of trip 
hammers, which when in full operation strike 
no less than one thousand blows a minute. Af¬ 
ter this process the caliber is very small, not 
more than one-fourth of an inch in diameter. 
The barrels are then subjected to a boring pro¬ 
cess, by which a proper size of caliber is secured. 
We have not time to speak of all the interest¬ 
ing operations which characterize the complete 
construction of the barrel, as the grooving, 
grinding, polishing, sighting, Ac. The stock is 
composed of two separate parts, the breech and 
the gun stock proper, fastened together at the 
point where the lock is inserted. They are 
made almost entirely by machinery. The lock 
is certainly a most ingenious invention. It 
puts on the percussion caps itself as often as the 
gun is cocked. The cartridge is inserted at the 
breech, and thus the succession of discharges 
may be exceedingly rapid. A gentleman en- 
.gaged in the manufactory told us that he had 
discharged one of the rifles fifteen times in a 
minute ! Provided a company of soldiers 
should fire ten times only a minute, they would 
in the course of an action an hour long discharge 
600 rounds each !— Providence Post. 
AMERICAN ALUMINUM. 
Mr. Alfred Monnier, a metallurgist of Cam¬ 
den, N. Y., has made some valuable discoveries 
in improving the processes for obtaining the 
metal aluminum. At a recent meeting of the 
Franklin Institute; Philadelphia, he exhibited 
large masses of chloride of aluminum, large 
bars of sodium, and a cjuantity of the metal 
aluminum, thus giving practical proof of his 
ability to manufacture the last metal, and the 
materials immediately used to produce it. 
Prof. James C. Booth, has written an article 
on the subject to the Philadelphia Ledger, in 
which he expresses hopes of this metal being 
obtained at a greatly reduced cost by Mr. Mon- 
nier’s processes. At present it is very dear, 
being about ten dollars per ounce. Mr. Mon¬ 
nier* ha B written us a letter on the subject, in 
which he states he has not made sufficient ex¬ 
periments on aluminum, to assure him it can be 
produced at a very low price. He says it is not 
such a bright metal ns silver, as has been gen¬ 
erally represented, but in some respects it is 
superior, and will be used in preference to it, 
and that it will supersede German silver, and 
copper, in the manufacture of articles for which 
those metals are now used. As the materials 
from which this metal is obtained are very 
abundant, we hope the processes of Mr. Monnier 
to obtain it cheap, will prove as successful as he 
anticipates.— Scientific American. 
Improving the Quality of Iron. —It has been 
found that the oxide of zinc, when used in very 
small proportions with the oxide of iron, very 
much improves the quality of certain kinds of 
iron. Increased toughness,_brightness and re¬ 
sistance to the tensile force - , result from the 
proper use of these oxides. Oxide of tin pro¬ 
duces closeness of grain, hardness, and a fine 
crystalline texture, very well suited to the 
wearing surfaces of rails and tires. The oxides 
of the earthy bases—such as those of calorum, 
barium, Ac., are employed in a similar manner, 
and are found to remove certain defects in the 
resulting malleable iron.— Com. Adv. 
The Hughes Printing Telegraph. —The in¬ 
ventor claims that his machine will print all 
messages in plain Roman capitals, and at an 
almost incredible rate of speed, averaging, in 
the ordinary despatch of business, from 20,000 
to 25,000 letters per hour ; that it will send and 
receive messages in opposite directions over the 
same wire at the same instant of time. It will 
consequently require but one wire and one op¬ 
erator. It is also claimed that it will work in 
very long circuits, in all states of the atmos¬ 
phere. 
Leather from Porpoise Skins. —At a recent 
industrial exhibition of one of the London So¬ 
cieties, among the other novelties was some cur¬ 
ried leather from the skin of the white porpoise. 
A report says :—“ It seems to possess the es¬ 
sential requisites of toughness and softness, and 
has been considered superior to the skins of 
land animals; the price is the same as that of 
the best calf skin ; but a sample pair of boots 
shown is stated to have worn out seven soles.” 
If this should prove to be so, the fishermen cn 
the Jersey shore will make fortunes. 
Machinery in the Human Frame. —Ye ry few, 
even mechanics, are aware how much machinery 
there is in their own bodies. Hot only are 
there hinges and joints in the bones, butnhere 
are valves in the veins, a forcing pump in the 
heart, and other curiosities. One of the muscles 
of the eye forms a real pulley. The bones which 
support the body are made precisely in that 
form which has been calculated by mathemati¬ 
cians to be strongest for pillars and supporting 
columns—that of hollow cylinders. 
