RUTTER'S POSTAGE STAMP, WAFER, AND

We put this pretty article foremost in our collection of minor novelties, as being the most certain to make a noise in the world. It forms a very elegant and useful addition to the library or parlour table. Without rising from your seat, you have but to press down the knob at top, when a sound is produced loud enough to be heard in the remotest corner of an ordinary sized dwellinghouse.

The Victoria Glove-fastener.-Collin and
Bourne, Skinner-street, London.
Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.

The "Victoria glove-fastener," represented in the above figures, is one of the

most recent improvements in this branch of trade. Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the button as fixed in the glove. It is of metal, and has two shoulders a b, between which the leather is secured by compression. Fig. 2 is a plan of the buttonhole; c is an eyelet guard also of metal, which is fitted into the hole, and has on its inner face two small flanges, by which it is made by compression fast to the leather.

Razor Heater.-C. White, Lincoln.

415

supply of boiling water to infuse your tea or coffee.

Hat Ventilator.-S. and T. Carrington, Stockport.

D

E

Fig. 2.

In the handy apparatus represented in the above cut, A is a bottom piece, containing a socket, which holds a mortar light, a. B is a case, which encloses the bottom part A and light a, having two apertures, bb, one on each side, closed with wire-gauze. In the top of this case there are two vertical slits, c c, for holding the razor to be heated, as shown. C is an outer cover, which has in the top of it a small compartment, D, with a lid, E, for holding matches wherewith to light the mortar.

Concave-bottom Kettle.-L. Williams, 14, Upper Marylebone-street.

Here is a kettle, with which, on your return home from a morning or evening walk, you can, in five minutes (such is the accelerating effect of the concave bottom), have a

When the weather is warm (as happily it now is at last-thanks, we suppose, to the Jeays comet,*) and if especially you are of a hotheaded temperament, you will do well to provide yourself with one of the Messrs. Carrington's hats with the invisible ventilator represented above. Fig. 1 is an under plan, and fig. 2 a transverse section of the crown or top of a hat with the ventilator (A) fitted into it. This ventilator consists of a circular disc of metal, perforated with holes for the escape of heated air and vapour; having a rim of about the thickness of the crown, from which a number of triangular points a a radiate. The disc is fitted tightly into a corresponding orifice made in the crown of the hat, and is also held fast by the triangular points a a, being pressed against the surrounding under surface of the crown. When in its place the disc is flush with the upper surface of the crown, and so far covered by the nap as to be externally invisible.

*In the Times of Monday last, there appeared a letter from Sir James South, from which the following is an extract:-"Sir,-Last evening at a few minutes after 11 o'clock, Mr. Joshua Jeays, of Green-street, Marlborough-road, Chelsea, called here to inform me that he had discovered a comet. With my 5 feet equatorial I observed at 31 min. after 11 o'clock, its approximate right ascension about 5° 18', and its north declination about 45° 21'. It is one of the brightest comets which we have had since that which appeared in the autumn o 1825,"

If of an evening, you indulge in the luxury of a cigar, here is a tube which will at once protect your lips, and preserve all the fragrance of the weed. It consists of two pieces, 1 and 2, which are screwed together at a. A is a tube of glass, which is introduced, before the screwing of the pieces together, into the centre of the piece 1, and has a flange, b, at the inner end to keep it in its place. This tube prevents the smoke, as it passes through the piece 1, from being absorbed by it, or affected by the quality of the material of which it consists. The part 2 (or mouthpiece) consisting commonly of horn or amber, does not require such protection.

When you go to bed, if like some people, you must see to sleep, let it not be by such a flickering, guttering, sputtering ghost of a candle as the common farthing rushlight; but by the handsome

Moulded Rushlight,

manufactured by Mr. Wallis, of Peterborough, which you will find will not only to burn better, but last much longer. (To be continued.)

THE RAPID MAIL CARRIER-ANOTHER

CLAIMANT.

Sir,-After reading in your Magazine an account of a Mr. W. H. James's pneumatic invention, which developes a plan for transmitting letters 300 miles per hour, by means of tubular passages, I beg to state that I was the first projector of that scheme, having introduced it to Colonel Maberly, the Postmaster-General, in February and March, 1840, when the result of my communications was that my invention did not appear to be adapted to the purpose of the Post-office department. Not having had the means to carry my invention out, I proceeded no further with it. Should you think proper to insert this in your Magazine, in order that it may meet the eye of Mr. W. H. James, a com

NOTES AND NOTICES.

Proposed Tunnel through London.-Mr. R. Stephenson is said to have suggested the construction of a tunnel from Hyde-park-corner to Mile-end, for the purpose of easing the great leading thoroughfares of their present throng of passengers. From this trunk line communication would be had with the streets above by means of spiral staircases, under cover, at regular distances, and branch tunnels would lead off to the various suburbs north of the Thames, Regent's-park, Highgate, Hampstead, Tottenham, &c.; in these tunnels railway omnibuses would run, and a journey from one end of London to the other might be accomplished in half an hour or forty minutes, while the streets above would be considerably cleared, and much of the present confusion prevented.

Time and the Electric Telegraph.-We have heard of things being done "in less than no time," and always looked on the phrase as a figure of speech signifying great dispatch. This paradox seems, however, to have been actually realised in the case of Wheatstone's Great Western Telegraph, a message having been sent in the year 1845, and received in the year 1844! It appears that directly after the clock had struck 12, on the night of the 31st of December last, the superintendent at Paddington signalled his brother at Slough that he wished him a happy new year: an answer was immediately returned, suggesting that the wish was premature, as the new year had not yet arrived at Slough! Such indeed was the fact, for "panting" Time was matched against Professor Wheatstone, and beaten half a minute.-Reading Mercury.

Discovery of Pure Feld-Spar.-It is very rarely that this substance is found in a pure state, so that it can be rendered available, without an admixture of quartz; and when this is the case its value is, of course, greatly enhanced. A vein of it has been hit upon recently, on some property of James Ferguson, Esq., advocate, of this city, at Altens, about three miles south of Aberdeen, in the parish of Nigg, in Kincardineshire. It forms a solid upper stratum of rock, extending about 300 yards, and fifteen feet deep; and, as it faces the sea, can be conveniently conveyed, without the trouble and expense of land carriage. It contains 20 per cent. of the material of porcelain when calcined, and is employed in glazing that article; and, from the facility of fusing, it cannot fail to be highly useful in the manufacture of glass. A portion has been sent to the Staffordshire Potteries, and there is no doubt that the discovery will prove a profitable one.-Edinburgh Chronicle.

The "Janus" Steam Sloop." On Thursday and Friday (5, 6 June) the engineers, for several hours during the two days, endeavoured without success to make the rotary engine placed in her perform the least movement, although an extra power of steam was put on her."-Chatham, Correspondent of the Times.-What can Mr. C. Robinson say to this? Must we regard this also as "proceeding satisfactorily?"

HAS any one ever before known of a one-pounder gun being fired from under the arm with the same ease, safety, and accuracy as a common rifle? We are sure no one has, and do not suppose there are many who will be inclined to deem the thing very easy of performance. That such an implement would be of great value, both for warlike and sporting purposes, will be at once readily acknowledged by all who have any acquaintance with the subject. In clearing difficult mountain passes of an enemy, in effecting landings on hostile shores, in "hunting the wild deer," or (worthier sport!) shooting down tigers, bears, wolves, and other savage beasts of prey; and even in such comparatively "small deer" sport as our meers and marshes afford, so powerful yet portable a weapon is obviously calculated to be of the greatest service. The difficulty to be got over in this case is the force of the recoil -a force which no ordinary shoulder is capable, unassisted, of withstanding. Insuperable as this difficulty has hitherto proved, we are glad to say it has at length been completely mastered by the contrivance we are now about to describe. The inventor, Mr. Berney, is the same clever amateur mechanic to whom the sporting world is already indebted for the patent spiral wire cartridge described in our 32nd vol., page 493, and 33rd vol., page 196, which we understand has since come into very extensive use. The contrivance consists in mounting the gun on a supplementary stock, to which it is connected by a powerful spring of a double bow-shape, in the manner shown in the engravings. Figs. 1 and 4 represent two guns fitted with it, one capable of carrying a cartridge of 14 lb., and the other a cartridge of 1 lb., with both of which Mr. Berney informs us he has been in the daily practice of accomplishing the feat predicated in our introductory question.

Fig. 1 represents a boat gun and spring guide stock complete; the whole is composed of iron, except the handle C, part of which is wood. The barrel weighs 1 cwt. 1 qr. 12 lbs., is 7 ft. 6 in. long, 1 in. bore, and carries a patent cartridge of 14 lb., with three ounces of

powder. A is the supplementary stock, or what the inventor calls a guide iron, and B its handle. C is an additional handle, which screws into B, and which is held under the arm to steady and direct the gun when fired. D is a slit in the guide iron, in which the screw bolt E slides when the gun is fired, and which attaches the barrel to the guide iron by the clasp iron F, which screws into the breech. G is a standard, which is to be set loosely in a hole in the post H, or the beam of any boat, and which the bolt at Z allows to be turned in any direction. S shows the end of the spring, as seen endwise. Fig. 2 is a view of the spring in a flat position, detached from the rest of the instrument. L, a strong iron strap, through which the standard of the clasp iron M, fig. 1, passes, and fastens the barrel down to the spring by the screw nut at N, by unscrewing which, and taking out the screw bolt E, the barrel is detached from the guide stock at pleasure. Fig. 3 is an edge view of the guide iron, showing how it is fixed to the spring and standard G by the screw bolt Z. Fig. 4 shows the spring guide stock, as fixed to a one-pounder brass gun.

Mr. Berney is in the habit of firing these guns by means of copper tubes, connected by a string to a brass box lock, which is attached to the breech by two strong screws. Fig. 5 shows (on an enlarged scale) the manner in which the tube lock is inlet into the patent breech.

METHOD OF CALCULATING THE TIME AT ANY PARTICULAR PLACE ON THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH, INTENDED TO FACILITATE THE REGULATION OF THE CLOCKS AT RAILWAY STATIONS.

[Continued from page 412.]

Here, then, we have investigated a formula for calculating the time at any known place on the earth's surface, by means of the principles of plane trigonometry alone, and the same method of determination will apply in all cases where the latitude of the place, together with the altitude and declination of the heavenly body, are known, whether it be the sun or a fixed star; and since the