280 LITERARY NOTICES. A NEW History of Animals, classed according to their organization, has been published at Paris, by the celebrated Cuvier. This work being of the first order of merit and of standard authority in this branch of Natural History, an English Translation has been undertaken by E. Griffiths, Esq. F. L. S. and will be published in Parts, illustrated with Engravings. It is expected that the work will be completed in about five years, making 10 quarto volumes. Mr. Charles Dupin, Member of the Institute of France, &c. &c. &c. expects in the course of the present month to complete his work on the Commercial Power of Great Britain, 2 vols, 8vo. em. bellished with fifteen quarto Plates. It will comprise a complete View of the Public Works of this Country, under the several Heads of Streets, Roads, Canals, Aqueducts, Bridges, Coasts, Maritime Ports, &c. A New Literary Journal is announced to appear this month, to be called the "Revue Européenne ou productions de l'esprit humain en France, en Angleterre, en Italie, en Allemagne." The publication will be monthly. It proposes to give information of all the new works published, of discoveries made, progress ascertained, &c. in the Arts and Sciences in every country of Europe; and is to be published in English at London, in French at Paris, Italian in Italy, German in Germany, &c. An Appendix in Quarto, to Captain Parry's Second Voyage, containing the Natural History, will be published in a short time. Captain Lyon of the late Polar Expedition has announced his intention of Publishing his private Journal of that Voyage speedily. The publication of the voyage round the World, performed by command of the French Government in the corvettes Uranie and Physicienne, during the Years, 1817-18-19 and 20, by M. Louis de Freycinet is ordered by the Minister of the Interior, it will form 8 quarto vols, with 4 Atlasses of 348 Plates, of which 117 will be coloured. A History of the Regeneration of Greece, comprising a Sketch of the Events from 1740 to 1824. By Mons. F. C. H. L. Pouqueville, Author of Travels in Greece, is nearly ready for publication; it will be in 4 vols, 8vo. with 5 maps and 7 portraits: considerable expectations are formed of this work from the celebrity the author attained by his former production. A New Library and Literary Institution is in agitation to be formed near the centre of the City of London. It is to consist of books in the English language only, and to be a library both of reference and circulation. The Arts and Sciences are proposed to be encouraged and cultivated by the delivery of lectures and experiments, and also by proposing prize questions. The Institution is intended to be formed by a number of Persons as Shareholders and Proprietors not exceeding 200, who may be admitted either by paying the price of their Share, (151.) or by the presentation of 50 volumes, if equal in value to the amount of a Share. It is also purposed to defray the expenses of the Institution and the purchasing of new works, by Subscribers to the library, and to admit all Subscribers and Proprietors to the Lectures of the Institution. Messrs. Boswell and Co. of Aldermanbury, are said to have made some valuable improvements in Canvas for the sails of ships, by a process that prevents mildew, which is so extremely destructive in tropical climates. This invention, when applied to canvas made of the best material, is said to impart heretofore undiscovered valuable qualities, the sails are more pliable, and not subject to cut out by friction, to endure longer, and to increase the velocity of sailing from the closeness and flexibility of its texture. The invention, it is said, has met the approval of the Commanders and Officers in the Navy, but we have not yet learned its principle, and have some suspicion that it is only the practical introduction of one of those plans for rendering fabrics waterproof, which has been the subject of a patent of some time standing. LONDON: SHACKELL AND ARROWSMITH, JOHNSON'S-COURT, FLEET-STREET. THE London JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES. No. XLII. Recent Patents. To THOMAS MILES, of Dudbridge, near Stroud, in the County of Gloucester, Cloth-Dresser, for Communications made to him by certain Foreigners, residing abroad, of certain Improvements on Machines for Shearing or Cropping Woollen-Cloths. [Sealed 3d June, 1823.] Iris stated by the patentee, that this modification of machinery, for shearing or cropping woollen, and other cloths, has been extensively employed in the United States of America with great success for some years past; but that it is now, for the first time, introduced into England. He considers, that its simplicity of construction, and efficacy of operation, render it superior to any of the shearing machines hitherto employed in this country. Plate XV. Fig. 1, is a perspective representation of the machine; a, a, a, is the fixed frame work of iron, which supports the moveable parts; b, b, b, is the sliding frame, also of iron, carrying the cloth under the cutters to be shorn; c, is a driver or rigger, which being actuated by any first mover, puts the machine in operation. At the end of the axle of the driver c, a pulley d, is fixed; from whence a cord or band extends to a wheel e, shewn by dots to this wheel a pulley is attached, which by means of a band passing from it, turns the wheel f. The reverse end of the axle of this wheelf, carries a pinion g, which takes into the rack of the sliding frame b, and thus by the revolution of the rigger c, and the bands and wheels connected to it, the frame b, is made to travel upon its rollers, which run in the grooves at bottom of the fixed frame. The cloth, intended to be shorn, is first to be rolled upon the shaft h, h, and when that is placed in the frame, the cloth is passed over to the other side, as is seen in the figure, and attached to the receiving roller, 7, these rollers, being prevented from turning back by ratchets and palls. The cloth is stretched and held fast, breadth ways by hooks, attached to end rails k, which take hold of the lists. The cutter is a cylinder l, with a twisted blade, working against a straight edge beneath it, as a ledger blade, This cylinder does not revolve, but vibrates by means of a small crank-rod m, connected to it and to the pulley-wheel n, which is actuated by a band from the *rigger c. The frame carrying this cutter turns up on pivots, and may be raised, or lowered, by the handle o. -The side of this part of the machine is shewn detached at Fig. 2. When the machine is not in operation, the cutter 7, will be held in its position, raised off the cloth, as in Fig. 2, |