[From the Journal of the Franklin Institute.] Specification of a patent for a mode of detaching horses from a carriage, either when running away, or whenever it may be desirable to effect that object rapidly. Granted to ROBERT BEALE, City of Washington, District of Columbia, May 12, 1832. Be it known, that I, Robert Beale, of the city of Washington, in the District of Columbia, have made an improvement in carriages, by which the horses may be suddenly disengaged when running away, or whenever required to be detached from the carriage quickly; called the safety carriage; which is described as follows:

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The swingletree is attached to the cross bar by an iron fixture called a jointed clasp, formed as in the annexed figure, (see fig. 1;) the knee part, marked A, resting against the back of the cross bar. This jointed clasp is held up against the under side of the cross bar by an iron shutter, or hinged clasp, formed thus, (see figure 2,) turning on a joint, or hinge, secured to the under side of the cross bar. To the end of the hinged clasp is attached an iron rod, or bolt, B, with an eye at its end. This rod, or bolt, passes through an opening in the cross bar, and has an iron spring key inserted through the eye, resting on the upper side of the bar, which secures the jointed clasp from dropping; or the rod may be fixed permanently to the cross bar, projecting far enough below it to pass through a slot or mortice in the end of the hinged clasp, with a spring key inserted through the end of the rod, or bolt, to prevent the hinged clasp falling. To the end of the spring key is attached a cord, which leads inside of the carriage, where it hangs loosely. Should the horse take fright, and become unmanageable, the cord is then

let the hinged clasp fall, and with it the jointed clasp attached to the swingletree, and will disengage the horse from the carriage.

The tugs are open in front, thus, (see fig. 3,) to allow the breeching to slip off freely. This breeching is made from a single strap of leather, with rings sewed to the ends, to hook over the tugs. The shutter, or hinged clasp, may have its end turned up at right angles, and formed like a catch, or hook, and secured by a spring, fastened to the side of the cross bar, the cords being attached to the end of the spring, The shutter may, in. deed, be held up in a great variety of modes, but the before described are sufficient to show the principles of my invention.

When it is desired to retain the swingletree, and let the horse go off with traces only, a hinged clasp must be put on each end of the swingletree, with the jointed clasps secured to the end of the traces, and the cords attached to the spring keys run through pulleys, and are joined to the cord which leads inside of the carriage.

In the two-horse carriage, the shutters, or hinged clasps, are hung on the under side of the wheppletree, and the cords attached to the spring keys run along on the top of the wheppletree in a straight line, then pass around pulleys, and are joined to the single cord which leads inside, or outside, of the carriage. The pulleys are to cause the cords to run freely, and to draw the spring keys, or pins, from the eyes of the rods, or bolts, in a straight line.

An iron tube, with a flaunch on one end, is fastened to the end of the pole. Over this is put a thimble, having a ring on each side, to which the breast straps are attached. This thimble slips off the end of the pole, when the horses are disengaged.

The mode of detaching horses from the two-horse carriage is similar to that descri. bed for a single horse carriage.

In a four-horse carriage the leaders are disengaged from the pole in the same manner, by a jointed clasp, hinged clasp, spring key, and cord, as described for a two-horse carriage. The jointed clasp may be held up against the cross bar by a pin inserted through the jointed clasp into the hind part of the cross bar, to which pin the cord is attached.

The jointed clasp may also be secured by a spring fastened on the hind part of the cross bar, the cord being attached to the end of the spring. Springs, or friction levers, are

minute, the barrel does not heat so much as those of common guns, because at every shot there is a rush of air through it.

It is very strong, cannot be inadvertently double-loaded, and is free from many of the disadvantages of flint or percussion lock guns. It is simple, and can be made by common workmen, and all its parts are of regular shape, so that they can be made by machine. ry, which will reduce its expense below that of ordinary guns.

It is easily cleaned, having neither cocks nor any complicated system of springs; and the ring that holds the bayonet on has a screw-driver on it to unscrew the parts.

RAILWAYS-The following able, yet not more able than true, exposition of the advantages of railroads, is from the Edinburgh Review. It is but a plain statement of facts, yet they are so clearly and forcibly stated, that they can hardly fail to convince those who still doubt the truths therein set forth. We should be gratified to see them extensively copied.

Railways are, in progress between the points of greatest intercourse in the United Kingdoms, and travelling steam engines are in preparation in every quarter, for the common turnpike roads; the practicability and utility of that application of the steam engine having not only been established by experiment to the satisfaction of their projectors, but proved before the legislature so conclu. sively, as to be taken for the foundation of parliamentary enactments.

"The important commercial and political effects attending such increased facility and speed in the transport of persons and goods, are too obvious to require any very extended notice here. A part of the price (and in many cases a considerable part) of every article of necessity or luxury, consists of the cost of transporting it from the producer to the consumer; and consequently every abatement or saving in this cost must produce a corresponding reduction in the price of every article transported; that is to say, of every thing which is necessary for the subsistence of the poor, or for the enjoyment of the rich, of every comfort, and of every luxury of life. The benefit of this will extend, not to the consumer only, but to the producer; by lowering the expense of transport of the producer, whether of the soil or of the loom, a less quantity of that produce will be spent in bringing the remainder to market, and consequently a greater surplus will reward the labor of the producer. The

benefit of this will be felt even more by the agriculturist than by the manufacturer; be. cause the proportional cost of transport of the produce of the soil is greater than that of the manufactures. If 200 quarters of corn be necessary to raise 400, and 100 more be required to bring the 400 to market, then the net surplus will be 100. But if by the use of steam carriages the same quantity can be brought to market with an expenditure of 50 quarters, then the net surplus will be increased from 100 to 150 quarters; and ei ther the profit of the farmer or the rent o the landlord must be increased by the same

amount.

"But the agriculturist would not merely be benefitted by an increased return from the soil already under cultivation. Any reduction in the cost of transporting the produce to market, would call into cultivation tracts of inferior fertility, the returns from which would not at present repay the cost of cultivation and transport. Thus land would become productive which is now waste, and an effect would be produced equivalent to adding so much fertile soil to the present extent of the country. It is well known that land of a given degree of fertility will yield increased produce by the increased application of capital and labor. By a reduction in the cost of transport, a saving will be made which may enable the agriculturist to apply to tracts already under cultivation the capital thus saved, and thereby increase their actual production. Not only, therefore, would such an effect be attended with an increased ex. tent of cultivated land, but also with an increased degree of cultivation in that which is already productive.

"It has been said that in Great Britain there are above a million of horses, engaged in various ways, in the transport of passengers and goods, and that to support each horse requires as much land as would upon an average support eight men. If this quantity of animal power were displaced by steam engines, and the means of transport drawn from the bowels of the earth, instead of being raised upon its surface, then, supposing the above calculation correct, as much land would become available for the support of human beings as would suffice for an addi. tional population of eight millions, or, what amounts to the same, would increase the means of support of the present population by about one-third of the present available means. The land which now supports horses for transport, would then support men, or produce corn for food.

"The objection that a quantity of land exists in the country capable of supporting horses alone, and that such land would be thrown out of cultivation, scarcely deserves notice here. The existence of any conside. rable quantity of such land is extremely doubtful. What is the soil that will feed a horse, and not feed oxen or sheep, or produce food for man? But even if it be admitted that there exists in the country a small portion of such land, that portion cannot ex. ceed, nor indeed equal, what would be suffi cient for the number of horses which must, after all, continue to be employed for the purpose of pleasure, and in a variety of cases where steam must necessarily be inapplicable. It is to be remembered also, that the displacing of horses in one extensive occupation, by diminishing their price, must necessarily increase the demand for them in others.

"The reduction in the cost of transport of manufactured articles, lowering their price in the market, will stimulate their consumption. This observation applies of course not only to home but to foreign markets. In the latter we already, in many branches of manufacture, command a monopoly. The reduced price which we shall attain by cheapness and facility of transport, will still further extend and increase our advantages. The necessary consequences will be an increased demand for a manufacturing population; and this increased population again re-acting on the agricultural interests, will form an increased market for that species of produce. So interwoven and complicated are the fibres which form the texture of the highly civilized and artificial community in which we live, that an effect produced on any one point is instantly transmitted to the most remote and apparently unconnected parts of the system.

"The two advantages of increased cheapness and speed, besides extending the amount of existing traffic, call into existence new ob. jects of commercial intercourse. For the same reason that the reduced cost of transport, as we have shown, calls new soils into cultivation, it also calls into existence new markets for manufactured and agricultural produce. The great speed of transit, which has been proved to be practicable, must open a commerce between distant points in various articles, the nature of which does not permit them to be preserved so as to be fit for use beyond a certain time. Such are, for example, many species of vegetable and ani. mal food, which at present are confined to

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markets at a very limited distance from the grower or feeder. The truth of this observation is manifested by the effects which have followed the intercourse by steam on the Irish Channel. The western towns of Eng. land have become markets for a prodigious quantity of Irish produce, which it had been previously impossible to export. If animal food be transported alive from the grower to the consumer, the distance of the market is limited by the power of the animal to travel, and the cost of its support on the road. It is only particular species of cattle which bear to be carried to market on common roads, and by horse carriages. But the peculiar nature of a railway, the magnitude and weight of the loads which may be transport. ed on it, and the prodigious speed which may be attained, render the transport of cattle of every species, to almost any aistance, both easy and cheap. In process of time, when the railway system becomes extended, the metropolis and populous towns will therefore become markets, not as at present to districts within limited distances of them, but to the whole country.

"The moral and political consequences of so great a change in the powers of transi. tion of persons and intelligence from place to place are not easily calculated. The concentration of mind and exertion which a great metropolis always exhibits, will be extended in a considerable degree to the whole realm. The same effect will be produced as if all distances were lessened in the proportion in which the speed and cheapness of transit are increased. Towns, at present removed some stages from the metropolis, will become its suburbs; others, now at a day's journey, will be removed to its immediate vicinity; business will be carried on with as much ease between them and the metropolis, as it is now between distant points of the metropolis itself. The ordinary habitations of various classes of citizens en. gaged in active business in the towns, will be at what are now regarded considerable distances from the places of their occupa tion. The salubrity of cities will thus be increased by superceding the necessity of heaping the inhabitants together, story upon story, in a confined space; and by enabling the town population to spread itself over a large extent of surface, without incurring the inconvenience of distance. Let those who discard speculations like these as wild and improbable, recur to the state of public opin. ion at no remote period on the subject of steam navigation. Within the memory of

persons who have not yet passed the meridian of life, the possibility of traversing by the steam engine the channels and seas that surround and intersect these islands, was regarded as the dream of enthusiasts. Nauti. cal men and men of science rejected such speculations with equal incredulity, and with little less than scorn for the understanding of those who could for a moment entertain them. Yet we have witnessed steam engines traversing, not these channels and seas alone, but sweeping the face of the waters round every coast in Europe, and even ploughing the great oceans of the world. If steam be

not used as the only means of connecting the most distant habitable points of our planet, it is not because it is inadequate to the accomplishment of that end, but because local and accidental causes limit the supply of that material from which at the present moment it derives its powers."

HOT AIR BLAST.-It is stated that the weekly consumption of coals at the Clyde Iron Works has been reduced, by the adop. tion of the heated blast, from 1800 to 600 tons; while, at the same time, a greater quantity of iron has been manufactured.

Heating Green-Houses and Dwellings by Hot Water. By Mr. M. SAUL, Florist. To the Editor of the New-York Farmer. SIR-I herewith send you my plan for heating by hot water. To save time and room, I have sent part of the London Mechanics' Magazine, which was published May 19, so that you may select what part you think proper, and the above plan I have drawn expressly for your work, which will be of greater power than the one in the Mechanics' Magazine, or Gardeners' Magazine. Whether the hot water system is in use in America, I know not; but the following plan will repay the expense. The fire-place is on the same principle as Witty's Improved Furnace, in the Gardeners' Magazine, volume 7th, page 482. It is founded on the modern discoveries in chemistry, and forms so beautiful an instance of the application of

scientific principle to the useful arts, that I shall attempt to give your readers an idea of it. Coal, when dry, if submitted to distillation, or in other words exposed to greater heat, emits a large quantity of aqueous vapor and inflammable gas, and becomes coke, which consists, when the coal is pure, almost entirely of carbonaceous matter. My fire-place is an inclined plane, and termi nated by a grate, and I also find that it is of no consequence whether the grate is fixed or movable, like Witty's.

As the fire begins to burn at the lower end, and which is supported by air admitted through the grate, the coal, while it lies on the under surface of the inclined plane, and before it reaches the grate, undergoes a dry distillation, and the steam and gas which are thus expelled occupy the space above the coal. At the same time the coal which has