The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1886-07-07
Ingenious COntriyances.

A LIBRARY in the museum at Cassel,
Germany, is made from five hundred
European trees. The back of each vol
ume is formed of the bark of tree, the
sides of perfect wood, the top of young
wood, and the bottom of old. When
opened the book is found to be box,
containing the flower, seed, fruit and
leaves of the tree, either dried or inn
printed on wax.
THE smallest engine in the world is
now in the possession of John Penn, in
Greenwich, England, the eminent
maker of great engines. 1t will stand
on three-penny piece. 1t really covers
less space, for its base-plate only meas
ures three-eighths of an inch by three
tenths. So small are some of the parts
that they require powerful magnify
ing glass to see their form. The whole
weight of the model is less than three
penny piece. 1t works admirably, and
when working its crank-shaft performs
an incredible number of revolutions in
minute.
HUMAN art and skill are chasing hard
after nature even. If they never come
nearer overtaking it than in the follow
ing effort of surgical science, thousands
of manned sufferers will still have cause
to rejoice: A gentleman of Marble
head, Mass, who, by sad misfortune,
had lost large portion of the roof of
his mouth, together with the soft pal
ate, and consequently the ruin of his
articulation and ease of eating and
drinking, entered friends office in
Boston, recently, and presented for his
inspection an ingenious piece of mech
anism, invented and constructed for
him, at the request of a famous surgeon,
by Mr.. Dudley, ST., of Salem. 1t was
no less than an entire roof for the
mouth, with several teeth mounted
thereon; also both hard and soft pal
ate. With this artificial substitute for
the natural organs, the gentleman con-
WINGED his friend by actual trial that he
could speak plainly, and declared that
he could eat and drink as well as before
his misfortune. He assured him that he
would not take ten thousand dollars for
the doctors artificial work, and eX-
pressed much gratitude for the excel
lent service of the skillful dentist.
WE thought the invention sufficiently
ingenious by which the cattle were
forced to draw their own drink, setting
the pump-stream running by their mere
weight on scale platform before the
water-trough; but the following con-
trivance of adjusting the habits and
manners of two species of creatures at
the same time, so as to save life and
property, is certainly much more ingen-
ious-it deserves to be called witty.
A bee-raiser in New England is said
to have patented an invention for the
protection of bees from the attacks
of the honeymoon, which enters the
hives at night and rifles the stores. The
idea rose out of his familiarity with the
daily routine, not of bees only but of
hens. Hens, he observed, retire to
rest early; bees seek repose earlier still.
No sooner are they sunk in slumber
than the moth steals into their abode
and devours the produce of their toll.
He has now built stand of hives with
hen-house above it. The bees first
betake themselves to their dwellings
and settle themselves for the night.
The hens then come home to roost on
their perch, and, as they take their
places upon it, their weight sets some
simple mechanism to work, which at
once shuts down the doors of all the
hives. When the day dawns, however,
the hens leave their roost, and the re-
moval of their weight from the perch
raises the hive doors and gives egress
to the bees in time for their work.
Philadelphia Saturday Night.