NEW INVENTIONS.

New Lamp. A new lamp has been in vented by Mr. PARKER of Argyll-street, which casts no shadow, and can increase its light on the lower or upper part of the apartment at pleasure. Its application is either for reading or general illumination.

Method of Preserving Vessels.-An American ship now at Cowes, built with spruce and white oak, sixteen years ago, has all her original timbers and planks in the most perfect state of preservation and soundness, owing to her having been, while on the stocks, filled up between the timbers with salt; and whenever she has been opened for examination, filled up again.

Dr. LAENNEC, of Paris, has invented a machine for investigating diseases in the organs of the chest. It is a cylinder about a foot long, and 14 inch in diameter, pierced lengthwise by a hole three eighths of an inch wide, and widened at one end in the form of a funnel the whole diameter of the cylinder. It acts partly as a prolongation of the external ear, partly by magnifying the sounds within the chest; and is well calculated to improve the knowledge of several important and obscure disorders.

Ships' Cargoes.-It has often been a subject of complaint, that there was no method that could be wholly depended upon for ascertaining the amount of the cargo which a vessel is able to contain, and also to discover the exact weight of the cargo. Mr. JACOB REITMAYER, a mechanist of Mayence, has succeeded in remedying this defect, by means of a new invention, a model of which has been presented to the central committee for regulating the navigation of the Rhine now sitting here. This machine resembles in its principles the platforms used on land for weighing waggons, &c. It is built in the water, at a place where the depth is always the same, whither the ships, when empty, are brought, and you may tell with the greatest accuracy, by means of a scale (or scales) at the sides of the machine, how high and broad the vessel is, and what is its weight in the water when empty. As the scale is calculated upon hydraulic principles, from decimeter to decimeter, according to the make of the ship in its cubic contents, and according to the buoyant power of the water, nothing more is necessary than to place the vessel, when loaded, in the machine, which will immediately shew the weight of the vessel and cargo, from which the weight of the vessel when unloaded is to be deducted.

Pyrolignous Acid.-This acid, formed by the destructive distillation of wood, has the same properties of preserving animal substances from putrefaction as the smoke of burnt wood. The antiseptic effects of this acid are obtained, by simply dipping the substance intended to be preserved into it. If immersed for several hours, a partial

decomposition will commence, and a disagreeable empyreuma and acid taste will be occasioned.

MALLEABLE IRON PASSAGE BOAT.-A passage vessel was constructed last winter and spring, for the service of the Clyde and Forth Canal Company, by Mr. Wilson, ship-builder, from the design and under the direction of Mr. Henry Creighton, of Glasgow.-The hull was built of iron, in order to avoid the often recurring and expensive repairs, to which the wooden vessels had been found liable. Considerable opposition to the plan was made by the persons connected with the navigation of the boats, who said it would be found inconvenient, and unfit for the service: but experience has proved it otherwise, and the Vulcan has been found to be the most agreeable and manageable of the passage vessels in every variety of weather, while, though carrying more passengers than any on the old plan, it is as easily tracked as the smallest of them; and from the lowness of the centre of gravity, it admits of a large cabin and awning on deck, where the passengers are better accommodated than in the former way below. The dimensions are,

Ditto, with 200 passengers and their bag- 48 on an eyen keel. gage under

The weight of iron employed is little more than twelve and a half tons, which is rather less than that of a wooden vessel of the same external, and smaller internal, dimensions. The iron was of the kind called Scrap, and was rolled and forged at the Monkland Steel Company's works.

An unforeseen advantage has been experienced in the use of this vessel, the cause. of which is not very apparent. When any of the other boats have been laid alongside of the canal bank, to take in or discharge. passengers, they continue, on being put in motion, to rub on the bank, until they acquire head-way enough to bring them under command of the rudder; but the Vulcan immediately springs off the bank, and takes into the middle of the canal, The form of the bottom of this boat was copied from a model sent by Admiral Shank, It excels the others which have been tried, as it occasions little agitation in the water, and is, therefore, favourable to the preservation of the canal banks.

Pumps for clearing away leakage or bilgewater were put into her, but, it is believed, they have hardly been required to be used.

It has been under contemplation to cause the horses to track the boats through the intervention of a spring, in order to equalize their exertions, which vary, in very minute portions of time from 100lb. to 1000lb. while the average strain on the line is between 250lb. and 300lb. It has been found impracticable to procure springs combining sufficient power of extension and strength, and perhaps it will be necessary to resort to one consisting of air acted upon by a piston, in a barrel of adequate dimensions.

Ivory Paper for the use of Artists. This is the invention of Mr. S. EINSLE, of Strutton Grounds, Westminster, who received from the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, thirty guineas for this communication.

The properties which render ivory so desirable a substance for the miniature painter, and other artists, are, the evenness and fineness of its grain, its allowing all water-colours laid on its surface to be washed out with a soft wet brush, and the facility with which the artist may scrape off the colour from any particular part by means of the point of a knife, or other convenient instrument, and thus heighten and add brilliancy to the lights in his painting more expedítiously and efficaciously than can be done in any other way.

The objections to ivory are, its high price, the impossibility of obtaining plates exceeding very moderate dimensions, and the coarseness of grain in the larger of these; its liability, when thin, to warp by changes of the weather, and its property of turning yellow by long exposure to the light, owing to the oil which it contains.

The candidate produced before the committee several specimens of his ivory paper, about an eighth of an inch thick, and of superficial dimensions much larger than the largest ivory: the surface was hard, smooth, and perfectly even. On trial of these, by some of the artists, members of the society, it appears that colours may be washed off the ivory paper more completely than from ivory itself, and that the process may be repeated three or four times on the same surface, without rubbing up the grain of the paper. It will also, with proper care, bear to be scraped, with the edge of a knife, without becoming rough.

Traces made on the surface of this paper by a hard black-lead pencil are much easier effaced by means of India rubber, than from common drawing-paper.

It is superior to ivory itself in the whiteness of the surface, in the facility with which it receives colour, and in the greater brilliancy of the colours when laid on, owing to the superior whiteness of the ground. Colours on ivory are apt to be injured by the transudation of the animal oil, a defect which the ivory paper is free from; it does not appear to become yellow or discoloured by keeping. The following account is the method of making it.

Take a quarter of a pound of clean parchment cuttings, and put them into a twoquart pan, with nearly as much water as it will hold; boil the mixture gently for four or five hours, adding water from time to time, to supply the place of that driven off by evaporation; then carefully strain the liquor from the dregs through a cloth, and when cold it will form a strong jelly, which may be called size. (No. 1.)

Return the dregs of the preceding process into the pan, fill it up with water, and again boil it as before, for four or five hours; then strain off the liquor, and call it size. (No. 2.)

Take three sheets of drawing-paper (outsides will answer the purpose perfectly well, and, being much cheaper, are therefore to be preferred), wet them on both sides with a soft sponge, dipped in water,, and paste them together with the size (No. 2). While they are still wet, lay them on a table, and place upon them a smooth slab of writingslate, of a size somewhat smaller than the paper. Turn up the edges of the paper, and paste them on the back of the slate, and then allow the paper to dry gradually. Wet, as before, three more sheets of the same kind of paper, and paste them on the others, one at a time; cut off with a knife what projects beyond the edges of the slate, and when the whole has become perfectly dry, wrap a small flat piece of slate in coarse sand-paper, and with this rubber make the surface of the paper quite even and smooth. Then paste on an inside sheet, which must be quite free from spots or dirt of any kind, cut off the projecting edges as before, and when dry rub it with fine glass paper, which will produce a perfectly smooth surface. Now take half a pint of the size (No. 1.) melt it by a gentle heat, and then stir into it three table spoonfuls of fine plaster of Paris; when the mixture is completed, pour it out on the paper, and with a soft wet sponge distribute it as evenly over the surface as possible. Then allow the surface to dry slowly, and rub it again with fine glasspaper. Lastly, take a few spoonfuls of the size (No. 1.), and mix it with three-fourths its quantity of water; unite the two by a gentle heat, and when the mass has cooled, so as to be in a semi-gelatinous state, pour about one-third of it on the surface of the paper, and spread it evenly with the sponge; when this has dried pour on another portion, and afterwards the remainder; when the whole has again become dry, rub it over lightly with fine glass-paper, and the process is complete; it may accordingly be cut away from the slab of slate, and is ready for

use.

The quantity of ingredients above mentioned is sufficient for a piece of paper seventeen and a half inches by fifteen and a half.

Paris plaster gives perfectly white surface oxyd of zinc, mixed with Paris plaster, in the proportion of four parts of the former

to three of the latter, gives a tint very nearly resembling ivory: precipitated carbonate of barytes gives a tint intermediate between the two.

25 NEW PATENTS.

ROBERT RAINES BAINES, of Myton, King ston-upon-Hull, Glue Manufacturer; for a Perpetual Log, or Sea Perambulator. Nov. 16, 1816.

The object of this invention being to ascertain the rate of a ship's way, or going, at sea, with a greater degree of accuracy, and with much less trouble than is at present performed, is effected by means of a vane, composed of sails or flyers, similar to windmill sails, fixed on the stern-post of the vessel, near the keel, so as to front the current of water made by the ship's way, which acts upon the sails or flyers as the wind does upon the windmill-sails. To this vane is connected a dial or index, by which the distance the vessel has made in a given time is shewn or ascertained, and the time may be known by any of the usual means.

And another machine of the same kind being placed below the keel, but parallel with the keel of the vessel, or by placing it in a hole through the stern-post, sufficiently large to admit the vane or fly, and at an angle of fifteen degrees (the angle on both sides being alike); it will then shew the lee-way the vessel has made in any given time, adding or deducting the tide or current, which are known, or may be known, by anchorage, and seen on the dial of the index of the machine for shewing the ship's way.

WILLIAM BUNDY, of Camden Town, Middlesex, Mathematical Instrument Maker; for certain Machinery for Breaking and Preparing Hemp and Flax. April 1, 1819. This machine consists of a strong frame of wood or cast iron, supporting two conical rollers, which revolve (without touching) in proper carriages; over which rollers, another similar roller revolves in like manner. These rollers are all frustra of cones, with flutes or longitudinal teeth on their external conical surfaces; the teeth of the upper roller work into those of the lower ones; and the whole revolve together. The rollers are set in motion by the action of a treadle or lever, and the flax being introduced between them, is to be drawn several times through the machine until finished. WILLIAM LEWis, of Brimscomb, Gloucester, Dyer; for a new Machine for fulling Woollen or other Cloths that require such Process. April 5, 1816.

Among the chief imperfections of the common machine or stock may be enumerated, that it cleanses the cloth unequally; that it requires the assistance of stale urine, or a chemical substitute, in the first stage of the process; that it felts the cloth, in a degree, during the cleansing, so as to injure

with the stock.

With regard to the last part of the process of fulling, namely, felting, the cloth is placed in, and supported by, a kind of cask, in the new machine, open at both ends, and made to revolve round its horizontal axis with any desirable speed, for the purpose of presenting the cloth in different directions to receive, through the open ends of the cask, the blows by which it is felted. A power of increasing or diminishing the action in the cloth is obtained by an adjustment to the apparatus, which makes the cask revolve. By this means the cloth is less rubbed than in the common stock, and consequently there is less waste of its substance; and it is not liable to the damage of rents, so common with the latter machine. The cask is at rest, while the blows are made, in opposite directions, against the cloth contained in it; and moves a portion of a revolution only in the interval of time between every two, every three, or more blows. This part of the machine may be usefully applied to cleansing linens or cot

tons.

Instead of a cask, for supporting and turning the cloth in the interval between the blows of the beaters, a machine may be constructed with a bowl, sufficiently wide, supported and turned round by a vertical

axis.

JOSEPH WEATHERLY PHIPSON, of Birmingham, Warwick, Metal Merchant; for an Improvement in manufacturing Pipes, Tubes, or Conductors, for Gas, and other Purposes. April 24, 1819.

A tube is to be formed of rolled copper, by drawing it through a plate upon a mandrill, or without a mandrill. The edges of the copper are to be soldered together with Bath metal, or silver solder, so as to form solder is dressed off, and the tube again a permanent and safe joint. The superfluous drawn through the plate: this done, a piece of lead pipe is drawn through a plate on å mandrill, of the diameter of the tube required, and placed within the said copper pipe; and by passing through it a conical mandrill, attached to a rod, the lead pipe is forced against the inner surface of the copper tube, so as to leave them in perfect contact with each other. Or a lead pipe may be prepared upon a mandrill; of the

diameter of the tube required; draw over it a copper pipe, already soldered, and pass them both together, on the mandrill, through a draw-plate, so as to bring the interior surface of the copper and the exterior surface of the lead pipes into complete contact; the lead pipe is proof against the action of the gas, and serves to conduct it without the risk of escape;-copper is not, but it supports and defends the lead, admits of a better polish, and is more pleasant to the eye than lead pipes or tubes thus constructed, will conduct various fluids and inflammable gases.

WILLIAM SPRATLEY, of the Strand, Middlesex, Coal-merchant; for an Improvement in the Axletree of Wheels for Carriages of different Descriptions. Dec. 20, 1814.

This invention consists in a certain combination of parts for securing the wheel upon its axle, which will admit of giving any determinate degree of end play or lateral motion to the wheel, which under some circumstances is so much desired; at the same time it affords additional security, a more perfect confinement of the oil in its various parts, less friction in motion, and a greater ease of management than the most approved axles now in use.

V PATENTS, LATELY GRANTÈDIUlt JOHN HAGUE, of Great Pearl-street, Spitalfields, Middlesex, Engineer; for an improvement in preparing the materials for making pottery-ware, tiles, and bricks. June 2, 1820.

WILLIAM BATE, of Peterborough, Northamptonshire, Esq.; for a combination of, and additions to, machinery calculated to increase power. June 3, 1820.

WILLIAM BATE, of Peterborough, Northamptonshire, Esq.; for certain improvements in preparing hemp, flax, or other fibrous material, for spinning. June 3, 1820.

SIMEON TEISSIER, of Paris, but at present residing in Bucklersbury, London, Merchant; for certain improvements in propelling vessels. Communicated to him by a certain foreigner residing abroad. June 3,

ARCHITECTURE.

The Architectural Antiquities of Normandy. By John Sell Cotman. With historical and descriptive Notices. Part 2.

The Heraldic Origin of Gothic Architecture, in Answer to all foregoing Systems. By Rowley Lascelles, Esq. Barrister, of the Middle Temple. Royal 8vo. 7s.

BIOGRAPHY.

A Sketch of the Military Life of Richard Augustus Wyvill, late Major of the 3d Veteran Battalion; with Descriptions of various parts of the World in which he has been stationed. 8vo. 14s.

Letters from Mrs. Delany (Widow of Dr. Patrick Delany) to Mrs. Francis Hamilton, from the year 1779 to the year 1788; comprising many unpublished and interesting Anecdotes of their late Majesties, and the Royal Family. Now first printed from the Original Manuscripts. Post svo. 6s. 6d.

The numerous opportunities of observing the domestic lives of our late lamented King and Queen, which Mrs. Delany owed to their condescension and friendship, give a powerful interest to this work, which exhibits a picture of conjugal and parental virtue and happiness, of religious and moral conduct, and propriety of manners, which in snch an exalted and conspicuous station, was highly beneficial to the nation. We have no longer this bright example before our eyes, but it is cherished in our memory; and the pages which recal it in its most amiable form, are a valuable acquisition. In our next Number, we purpose giving some interesting extracts.

CLASSICAL LITERATURE.

Lucian of Samosata, from the Greek. With the Comments and Illustrations of Wieland and others. By William Tooke, F. R. S. In 2 vols. 4to. 51. 5s. with a Portrait of Mr. Tooke.

EDUCATION,

Early Education, or the Management of Children considered with a view to their Future Character. By Miss Appleton, Author of Private Education,' &c.

This is in every respect a very excellent production. It is evidently the result of an attentive observance of the wants and habits of infants, and of an affectionate solicitude to promote their happiness and welfare. The author seems less anxious to make out a correct and imposing theory, than to shew what is easily practicable, and sure of producing desirable results. In the most amiable manner she points out the pleasures and enjoy. ments which nature herself prescribes to infants, and shews how an ample indulgence in them may yet be so managed as to be productive of moral good to the little creatures, who, at their engaging and innocent period of life, ought to be as exempt from needless suffering, as they are from actual guilt. She goes always upon the kind and judicious principle that prevention is the best cure; and she earnestly exhorts parents to spare themselves the pain of detecting faults in their children by their own watchfulness in preventing occasions for them to appear. If we had room for extracts, we could easily bring numerous passages from this work, to justify any degree of praise we may be stow upon it. The beauty of the author's remarks on the infantine affections, the judicioushèss ›df

her directions respecting the treatment of an elder child, when a rival is introduced to him, under the title of a baby, strong in its very weakness, and the beautiful feeling with which she impresses the importance of removing far from the tender sensibility and lively imagination of infants, all un

hallowed scenes of anger or cruelty, and all im patient expressions, would, amidst many other admirable instances, amply bear us out in our admiration of her judgment and her principles; but, limited as we are, we must content ourselves with briefly saying, that no mother will open this volume without wishing to peruse it throughout; nor can she arrive at the conclusion without being benefitted by the author's remarks, and feeling an affectionate gratitude for that consideration for both the parent and the child, by which they have been suggested.

The chapter on early instruction is excellent, and the more so, as the Author does not fall into the error of the present day, of teaching too much at too early a period, and too long a time together.Nature and observation are a child's best teachers for the first seven years of his life. The work is closed with a list of children's books, and comments upon them, which will be found very useful to those who wish to inculcate betimes a love of reading in their children.

A System of Education for the Infant King of Rome, and other French Princes of the Blood; drawn up by the Imperial Council of State, with the Approbation and under the Superintendence of the Emperor Napoleon. In English and French, with a Portrait. 8vo. 8s.

This very extraordinary Work is of some value, as elucidating the excessive pride and vanity, and the mongrel philosophy of the late ruler of France. His visionary projects for forming the mind of his son, are extremely characteristic of his sanguine temper.

A Lexicon of the Primitive Words of the Greek Language, inclusive of several leading Derivatives. By the Rev. John Booth, Curate of Kirkby Malzeard, near Ripon, Yorkshire. 8vo. 9s.

Essentials of English Grammar done into Metre, for the Instruction and Amusement of Young Persons. By Thomas Sternhold, jun. Derby.

FINE ARTS.

Robinson, Hurst, and Co's Catalogue of Engraved Copper-plates by the most esteemed Artists, after the finest Pictures and Drawings of the Italian, Flemish, German, French, English, and other Schools. 2s.

Boosey and Son's Catalogue of choice Foreign Engravings, Etchings, Lithographic Productions, Wood-cuts, and Books of Prints, collected last year on the Continent; published gratis.

Twenty-four Select Views of the principal Ruins of Rome; with a Panoramic Outline of the Modern City from the Capitol. By Henry Abbott, Esq. from Drawings taken on the Spot in the Winter of 1818. To be completed in Eight Numbers, art. 1s. each.

Sketches illustrative of the Manners and Costumes of Italy, Switzerland, and France. By R. Bridgens, royal 4to. containing five

coloured plates, with descriptive letter-press. No. I. ; to be continued Monthly.

The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, embellished with Engravings from Designs by Thomas Stothard, Esq. R. A. Royal svo, with the Plates on India Paper, 51. 58. Royal svo. with early Impressions, 31. 13s. 6d. Demy 8vo, 21. 2s. The Plates separate, on India paper, folio, in a portfolio, 51. 5s.

GEOGRAPHY.

Historical Account of Discoveries and Travels in Asia, from the earliest ages to the present time. By Hugh Murray, F. R. S. E. 3 vols. 8vo maps, 21. 2s.

This Work appears to comprise, within a moderate compass, whatever is most important and amusing in the narratives of the various Travellers who have visited this extensive quarter of the globe. Besides the best works of known and standard travellers, the Author has introduced a considerable number, which, as they exist only in the less known European languages, or in the MSS. of our public libraries, may probably be new to the English reader.

A Geographical, Statistical, and Historical Description of Hindostan, and the adjacent Country, composed from the most auManuscript Records deposited at the Board thentic printed Documents, and from the With maps, 2 vols. 4to, 41. 14s. 6d. By Walter Hamilton, Esq.

of Controul.

HISTORY.

1

The Parliamentary Debates; comprising the Session Nov. 23, 1819, to Feb. 28, 1820, the close of the Reign of George III. Vol. XLI. Royal 8vo. 11. 11s. 6d.

This work commenced with the year 1803; and forms a continuation to the present time of the work entitled "The Parliamentary History of England, from the earliest period, viz. 1066.” “

Letters from Germany and Holland, during the years 1813, 14, containing a detailed account of the Operations of the British Army in those Countries, and of the Attacks upon Antwerp and Bergen op Zoom. By the Troops under the Command of Sir Thomas Graham, K. B. Post svo.

LAW.

A Splendid Speech, delivered for the Plaintiff, in the case of Sir John Doyle versus Browne, in Dublin. By Holwell Walsh, Esq. 1s. 6d.

The Doctrine and Description of Divorce, with a Preface, referring to points of a deep and powerful interest at the present crisis: together with Notes explanatory and illustrative; with a Review of the Controversy between Milton and his Opponents. By an eminent Civilian,

MEDICINE AND SURGERY.

Cases of a Serious Morbid Affection, chiefly occurring after Delivery, Miscarriage, &c. from various Causes of Irritation and Exhaustion; and of a similar Affection unconnected with the Puerperal State. Marshall Hall, M. D. F. R. S. E. &c. &c.

6vo, 4s. sewed.

By