286 Franklin Institute.

of such pipes to be made, they would fit spigot into faucet in a continu- ous manner, and the accuracy of this joint is found to be such that by simply wetting the surfaces to be united, and driving them home, they rust up m a few days, and form a perfectly steam tight j'oint, requiring several hundred pounds pressure on the inch to separate them. But generally the joints tbr gas and water purposes may be made by apply- ing a luting of red lead or other suitable material, and, in some eases, tar will be found to form a sound and durable joint.

F R A N K L I N I N S T I T U T E .

Proceedings of the Stated .Monthly o$Ieeting, September 17, 1857. John C. Cresson, President, in the chair. John Agnew, Vice President. ) John F. Frazer, Treasurer. ~ present. Isaac B. Garrigues, Recording Secretary. The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved. Donations to the Library were received from the Commissioners of

Patents, London ; Lieut. M. F. Maury; National Observatory, Washing- tea, City D. C. ; L. A. Huguet Latour, Esq,, Montreal, Lower Canada ; Hen. James H. Campbell, M. C., Pottsville, Pennsylvania ; Dr. J. Aiken Meigs, Philadelphia.

The Periodicals received in exchange for the Journal of the Institute, were laid on the table.

The Treasurer's statement of the receipts and payments for the month of August was read.

The Board of Managers and Standing Committees reported their minutes.

new candidates for membership in the Institute (3) were proposed, and the candidates (6) proposed at the last meeting were duly elected.

S. S. Garrigues called the attention of the members present, to a series of tabular diagrams illustrating a report, parts of which were read, on a new system of decimal weights and measures, proposed by a joint com- mittee of the New York Chamber of Commerce, and The Geographical Statistical Society of New York, as a substitute for our present system of weights and measures, a similar report being also produced by a com- mittee before the late session of the American Pharmaceutical Associa- tion held in this city.

Report on Imitation .Marble .Mantels. The Committee on Science and the Arts constituted by the Franklin Institute of the

State of Pennsylvania, for the promotion of the Mechanic Arts, to whom was referred for examination, Imitation Marble Mantels manufactured by the Penrhyn Marble Company of Boston, Massachusetts,

RErOaT :--That the patent is for the method of applying the colors by means of a peculiar bath, used in the place of the ordinary "size- bath," long familiar in the manufacture of marble paper. The bath now

Hand-Book of Practical Receipts. 987

patented, consists in a film of Dammara resin floated upon water, which may be broken up into any desired figures, by means of a rod or spatula previously, dipped inlo the desired colors.. The bath thus prepared is said to be more manageable than the ordinary one.

'Ihe article to be "marbleized" is, after being prepared with the ground color, immersed in the bath, then withdrawn, dried or baked in an oven, and then coated with a proper varnish and again heated.

The articles examined by the Committee are of slate prepared in this waymand they present resources for ognamentation, which are valuable from their comparative cheapness, and the great accuracy of the imita- tion of which they are capable. The slate is also stronger and less lia- ble to injury than many of the composite marbles which are thus imi- hated.

Compared with the "marbleized iron," these objects are better imita- tions of the stone, because the iron has to be covered with a glass to give it the stone surface, and the thickness of this transparent coating shows itself in certain cases ; and they are more durable, because the different expansibility by heat of the iron and glass, finally causes the latter to crack, and the iron then rapidly rusts. The new material is free from both these objections, but, on the other hand, the imitations of carved

• work cannot be done so cheaply as in the iron. The Committee consider the beauty of the manufacture well deserving

of the award of a First Premium from the Committee on Exhibitions. By order of the Committee,

Philadelphia, Sept. 10th, 1857. WXLLIAM H.~t~ILTON, ./lctuary.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.

The Hand-book of Practical Receipts of every day use; a .Manual for the Chemist, Druggist, .Medical Practitioner, $c., ~;c. By Tnor~As F. BRA~SToN--lst American from 2d London Edition--Philadelphia:

,~Lindsay & Blakiston, 1857.

This is a very useful little book, containing, as its title indicates, a number of valuable practical receipts, arranged alphabetically, and pro- vided with a copious index, so that any one may be easily found, even though it should be doubtful under what title it is to be sought, and a glossary of the terms used in chemistry and medicine, which will give satisfaction to those readers who from time to t ime are puzzled in their studies by an antiquated or even obsolete technical term.

We wish the .publishers had made it ill reality what it is in form, an American edition in place of a mere reprint, for there are a .great num- ber of practical receipts of great value here, which the Enghsh profess to ignore ; which might be added to the work, or even substituted for some of the matters of less interest.

We hope the publishers will think over this when a new edition is called for.