1809.] 
fy 407. J 
NEW PATENTS LATELY ENROLLED. 
—==a 
MR, FERDINAND SMYTH STUART’S (BIL- 
LERICAY,) for a Substitute, the’ Pro- 
duce of this Country, for Peruvian 
Bark. 
Ww did from this title expect some 
important discovery; we ima- 
gined, that some article, hitherto over- 
looked, had been added to the materia 
medica, and were of course disappointed, 
when we found, that oak bark and oak 
leaves were the substitute alluded to,.— 
The patentee gives the prescription under 
several forms :-—=1. Oak leaves dried in 
the shade.—2. The bark, in general, of 
the young twigs or branches of the oak.--- 
3. The inner bark of the tree, which is 
to be reduced to a powder, and taken as 
the Peruvian bark. With the leaves and 
young bark a decoction is to be made, 
and to render it more powerful, the pow- 
der of the inner bark is to be taken at 
thesame time. We are assured, by Mr. 
Stuart, that bark taken. in this way, or 
rather what is called a substitute for bark, 
is an infallible remedy for the scurvy. 
—<=e=—— 
MESSRS. PHILLIPS LONDON’s, SEN. AND 
JUN. for a new Methed of purifying 
the Muriate of Soda or common Salt. 
One main object of this invention, is to 
prevent the necessity of importing bays 
salt. The purification here described is per- 
formed by means of re-agents and heat. 
The re-agents are soda, or the sulphate ni- 
trate, or carbonate, of soda, or vegetable al- 
kali, lime, &c. The fossil-salt, or salt ob- 
tained from sea-water, is to be mixed 
with the re-agents {the proportions are 
not given), and heated in a furnace, till 
it ts fused, and the earthy or metallic 
particles will unite with the reé-agents, 
and leave the salt pure, 
Patentees say, the thing may be 
done by solution, or by heat, without 
the aid of re-agents. 
; =. 
MR. W. F. SNOWDEN'S (OXFORD-STREET), 
Jor Improvements in an Engine for cut- 
ting Hay, Straw, &¢. into Chaff. 
We shall give an account of this inven- 
tion, partly in the words of the paten- 
tee. It consists of two things: First, a 
more simple and better way of bringing 
the straw to the knife :-——Secondly, a new 
mode of compressing the article, when 
the knife is cutting it, But the invention 
does not extend to, or comprise, a ma- 
chine altogether on an entire new. prin- 
ciple, as sundry parts in this machine 
are used, which have existed in old ma- 
chines; but Mr. S. describes and ex- 
plains his invention in the following man- 
ner :—“ First, instead of the straw sliding 
forward on the bottom of the box, as in 
old machines, the box in my machine, 
by a sling motion on the frame, and, with 
the assistance of the frame or weight, 
brings the straw and other articles for- 
ward withit to be cut; and whilst the 
knife is cutting the straw or other arti- 
cles, a retrograde motion is given to” 
the box by a projecting part of the lever, 
acting against the regulating nut, by 
which the cut is regulated to any length 
required, and so on alternately ; whilse 
the knife is rising nearly to the top, the 
straw or other articles come forward 
with the box; and whilst the knife is cut- 
ting, a compresser acts upon the straw 
and other articles, so as to prevent them 
going backwards with the box. The for. 
ward motion of the box is produced by 
the action of the lever, when the knife 
rises, which causes a frame or weight to 
act against the two pieces fastened, for 
that purpose, to the inside of the box. 
Secondly, the compresser, by a more 
simple contrivance, presses the articles 
with less labour than was ever known bhe- 
fore, and acts upon the articles, that are 
to be cut, with nearly the same degree 
of pressure whatever be their thickness, 
and which is done in the following man- 
ner:—The lever acts on a pin in the 
frame'of the compresser. At the inner 
end of the lever is the frame or weight 
with the roller. At the other end is the 
connecting rod, by which the motion of 
the back, to which the knife is fixed, is 
communicated to the lever, and also the 
weight of the lever, so that the frame of 
the roller, and its frame or weight at the 
inner part of the lever, and also the 
weight of the back knife, connecting 
rod at the other end of the lever, and 
also the weight of the lever, act as a 
Weight or pressure on the article, whilst 
the knife is cutting it; and the roller, 
and its frame or weight at the inner part 
of the lever, when the back to which 
the knife is fixed rises, act as a counter- 
“poise for them, till the roller meets the 
article that isin the box; the lever then 
changes its fulcrum to the roller, which 
causes the compresser to rise to admit of 
the article coming forward to be ap 
he 
