Bloomington herald. [volume] (Bloomington, I. T. [Iowa]) 1840-1849, 1844-06-07
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PATENT
OFFICE.

One OF the most interesting of the many vo-
luminous documents sent forth by the De-
pariments at Washington, is that Of the Com
missioner of Patents, Mr.. Ellsworth. 1t gen.
orally containsa summary Of the curious in
venicns Of the year, accompanied by varie-
| ty of suggestions and remarks, calculated for
the benefit Of all persons interested in agricul-
| tural and mechanical improvements.
| In the number for the present year, we have
some three hundred and thirty pages of this
Nnd Of matter, some Of it highly instructive.
and most of it quite readable. We gather a
| lew facts from this document.
| There were granted in 1s43, no less than
FIVE hundred and thirty-one new patents, and
| Puyhundred and forty-six expired during the
Ts,eStme. The whole number of patents is
1 5y the Uaitoa States up TO the com-
| risnoement of the year 1874, was thirteen
| thousand five hundred and twenty-three. The
receipts of the Patent Office during ls43, were
$35, 3l5; the expenditures $24,75O; the sum
returned to persons making application. whose
claims to patents were denied, S5,O26.
The Report estimates the present popula-
ton Of the United States at 1888 ,583; in
crease since 1910, o,ll4,l3 souls.
Mr.. Ellsworth furnishes clear and full
account of the discoveries Of Professor Morse
in Electro Magnetism, the construction Of the
telegraph being explained by diagrams. 1t is
estimated that the electric fluid will travel at
the rate of 2SS,000 miles, equal to nearly
twelve times the circumference of the globe,
in one second! The report dwells upon the
probable effect of this rapid transmission of
intelligence.
He refers to another improvement, which he
E>..-s very important one-namely, the con-
structlon of cheap cottages of unburnt brick.
Unburnt bricks have been found undecayed
and sound in arches in Egypt which have
even stood the lapse of 1900 years. The
cottage erected by himself at Washington, in
view of the Capitol, and which is two stories
in height, stands well, appears as handsome
as the best houses built ofburnt brick, is warm
in winter and cold in summer. The expert
ment has been successfully tried in Canada.
1t seems that by exhaus,ng the air from
wood, and then infusing sulphate of iron into
the pores, the wood can be hardened so that
the iron wheel of railroad cars makes no i'm
preston after years use.
M. Ellsworth makes mention of hardy
kind of rice which fiourishes on the edge of
the SHOWS of the Himalaya mountains, and
states that he has ordered some of the seed,
vHich he hopes to receive before long for dis
~ ;ion.s urT The aaaiRiQp is aaW, aatertained
rct may be raised wherever Indian corn will
ripen.
4 very interesting account is given of an ex-
!raordnary grain called the mulsicole rye,
raised in the west Of France, the prolific quail
tiles of which almost exceed belief. A few
bushels of ii, imported by Mr.. Ellsworth,
have been distributed.
Bv valuable machine recently invented,
with ten woke of oxen and five hands, ditch
Of suitable depth for draining lands, ia inch
es deem and % inches wide at the top,) ten
miles NAV be excavated in one day, at an ex-
pense bv contract, of not more than three
cents per rod. A larger machine. with great
Of number of oxen, will excavate ditch three
feet deep. The grea. importance of such an
Instrument on the praires of the West Will at
once be seen and acknowledged.
Accounts are given of many new and vaiua-
Bile plants, and improved varieties OF gralns'
| !, .sSees, &c., which possess no ordinary IN
terest for The farmer. Twelve thousand pack
aces Of seeds were distributed from the Pat
ent Office during the last year.
We have, for instance, description OF
| process, hitherto secret, by which butter may
| be kept for years, fresh and sweet, IN any ell
mate, which we subjoin:
| cit has been discovered that most kinds OF
wood contain quantities of pyrollgneons
| acid which decomposes salt in butter kept IN
such This. The linden or bass wood, is the
only one which, it appears by careful expert
ment is free from it; others, it is stated, may
he freed from it; and thus rendered suitable,
by boiling three or four hours. we'll pressed
under water. Much importance has always
been attached TO the preparing OF butter, SO
that it will keep on board of ships at sea and
at warm climates. A simple process Is now
l.prsc,ised which is said to be etfectuai ioi
Is purpose; which is, to have good butter
f36ell churned, and worked and packed hard
! and fight in kegs of seasoned white oak the
head is then put in, leaving small hole into
which brine is poured to fill the vacant space
and of so much importance is it deemed, to
| preyent any bad taste, that the plugs tor the
! aole must not be made of cedar or pine, bu,
Of cyprrs or bass wood, as otherwise 1t would
he Injured. After which, these kegs are
placed in hogshead we'll filled with BRINE o Q
full solution. that will bear an egg, which Is
then headed up tight and close. The import
ance of this subject may be estimated from thu
fact that. as il appears, the standing contract:
for butter. in our navy, that will keep at sea
are at twenty-six cents per pound, and 10
cheese twenty cents per pound. It's now Pu
mn of good dairies in Orange county, and keep
perfectly" :.
There are many other curious matters II
! this report, to which we may hereafter refer
IN. Y. Eve. Post.
j Father Mathew. the apostle of Temperance
in recent lecture in England on some aiiu
Nl,n