Record of Scientific Discovery.
New Motors.—Sir John Scott Lillie, Companion of the Bath, of Paris, has just received an English patent for improvements in the application of motive powers. One of these improvements consists in directing currents of air, or other gaseous fluids, through inverted troughs or channels, for the propulsion of boats and barges in the conveyance of goods and passengers. The troughs are placed longitudinally, one on each side of the vessel; or one may be placed between two vessels having one deck. Their form may be either square or oblong; and they are left open so that the currents of air in their passage to, and escape at or near, the stern of the vessel, may act upon the water, until they pass off into the air. They are supplied by air through a shaft, passing vertically through the centre of the deck. Another of the improvements consists in suspending paddle-wheels at or near the stern of the vessel, which are set in motion by the action of the currents as they pass off into the air, thereby increasing the motive power; or such paddle-wheels may be moved without the intervention of the troughs or channels, by the motion of currents of air or other gaseous fluids, forced through tubes or cylinders. The patent was enrolled in the early part of March.
Water Gas.—The English patent for Paine's Light was enrolled on the 12th of December, in the name of Alfred Vincent Newton, of Chancery Lane, Middlesex. The London Patent Journal publishes the specifications and figures, remarking that the report has been ready for some time, but was not published at the particular request of the assignee of the patent in England. It states that the invention is for decomposing water by means of electricity, and producing therefrom a gas, which, after being made to pass through spirits of turpentine or other hydro-carbonous fluids, will, when ignited, burn with great brilliancy. The invention is known by the name of "Paine's Light"—this being, in fact, Mr. Paine's specification, in which he states, that although water has been spoken of as decomposed by the electric currents, he wishes it to be understood that this is merely to accord with the generally received chemical doctrines and phraseology, and that water, after all, may be a simple element; however that may be, the patentee wishes, at present, to lay it down as certain that by discharging electricity through water, large quantities of gases are evolved; and that one of such gases, at least, when passed through turpentine, in the manner described, will burn and give a highly illuminating light. Mr. Paine's affairs in England being thus adjusted, it is possible that more will be heard of it on this side. The benefits of the invention are hid under a bushel.
Improvements in the Steam-Engine.—An English patent has been granted to Mr. George Smith, of Manchester, engineer, for four improvements upon the steam-engine. The first is an improved arrangement of apparatus by which cold water is made to enter the exhaust passages of steam cylinders, as near the valves as possible; by condensing a portion of the exhausted steam it becomes hot and then passes off, while the uncondensed steam passes either into the condenser or the atmosphere. This improvement is applicable to marine, stationary, and locomotive engines. The second improvement consists in an improved apparatus applied to low-pressure boilers, by which the water in the boiler is maintained at a regular height, and by which the danger of explosions from deficiency of water is removed. The third, consists of hot and cold water pumps, and is also applicable to air-pumps and lifting-pumps. The fourth is in the construction of metallic packing of pistons for steam cylinders, air-pumps, and other similar pistons, by which greater strength and elasticity are obtained.
New Applications of Zinc and its Oxides.—Mr. William Edward Norton has obtained a patent in England for improvements in obtaining, preparing and applying zinc and other volatile metals, and their oxides, and in the application of zinc, to the preparation of certain metals, and alloys of metals. The improvements are six in number; consisting of an improved furnace for the preparation of zinc and its white oxide, with new forms of front and rear walls—a mode of dispensing with the common retorts for the reduction of the ores of zinc into oxides, and replacing them by one large retort, in which the ore is more advantageously treated—the application of zinc to the alloy of iron and steel, which are thereby rendered more malleable and less liable to oxidation—a saving of the products of distillation and oxidation of zinc and other volatile metals, by means of a cotton, woollen, flaxen, or other similar fabric, in connection with a suitable exhausting apparatus,—the application of zinc to the formation of pigments,—and, lastly, the application of the ore called Franklinite to the reduction of iron from its ores, and its subsequent purification, and in saving the volatile products by means of a suitable condensing or receiving apparatus. Franklinite, which has hitherto only been found in any quantity near the Franklin forge, Sussex county, in the State of New Jersey, consists of the following substances, according to Berthier and Thomson: Peroxide of iron, 66; oxide of zinc, 17; sesqui-oxide of manganese, 16; total, 99.
A new adaptation of Lithography to the process of printing in oil has lately been invented by M. Kronheim of Paternoster-row, London. Hitherto no strictly mechanical means have existed for successfully producing copies of paintings, combining the colors and brilliant effects as well as the outlines and shadings of the original. The ingenious invention of Mr. Kronheim, while it enables him to supply copies of the great masters wonderfully accurate in every respect, reduces the cost of such copies to one-half the price of steel-engravings, and is a far more expeditious process. The invention has reduced to a certainty the practice of a new process by which the appreciation of art may be more widely extended, and the works of great artists popularized.