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India Rubber Fabrics.—Charles Goodyear has made application to the Commissioner of Patents for nn extension of the patent granted to him on the 9th of March, 1844, for the above invention. The petition is ordered to be heard at the Patent Office on Monday, the 8th of March next. Mr. Goodyear obtained two patents on the above date, one for " a manufacture of goods denominated corrugated or shirred india rubber goods," and another for a machine for the manufacture of such goods. We presume it is the first-named upon which the patent is sought to be extended. Fire-p1'ooJ Ceilings Jor Bui!dings.—Palmer Sumner, of New York City, obtained a patent April 25, 1844, for a metallic lath, made of plate or sheet metal, with the two edges bent over towards the middle, so as to form inclined ledges to hold the plastering. The increased attention paid to the construction of fire-proof buildings for a few years past has made this an important invention rendering its extension very desirable. The petition in this case is to be heard on the 12th of April next. Parties wishing to oppose the extension of the above patents must file their objections, in writing, at least twenty days before the day of henring. MEASURES are now being taken by the Inspectors of the Philadelphia County Prison to give employment to the vagrant population committed to that institution. A mill for the grinding of wheat is to be put up. 'Ye have always had a repugnance to the employment of prison labor in competition with the industry of the honest artizan; but questions of moral responsibility require that the vicious and the imprisoned should be employed, as otherwise there would be little chance for their moral improvement. Idleness is the parent of vice. THE French Academy is determined to allow no literary men to enter it unless they are free from debt, and supported by a good moral character. A great many uncharitable people will come to the conclnsion, after perusing the above, that the venerable French Academy will soon become perfectly dry of literary men. Out of debt means " owe no man anything ;" good moral character means jnst what it says, and nothing more; each is a rare qualification in the gay French capital. A LADIES' ASSOCIATION has been established in England, to promote care in the physical training of young girls, and for the diffusion of sanitary knowledge, and promotion of physical education. If such an association is of use anywhCl'e, it is of use in the United States. American girls need physical training much more than the English. The want of education of this kind in our country is making mere dolls of many otherwise noble girls. THE Russian government has ordered that the American language be taught in the schools of Irkutsk, the capital of Siberia. There is a difference between the spoken English and the spoken American language. The Emperor of Russia evidently prefers not to have the letter h so sadly misused in his Siberian possessions as it is in Mother England. SUGARCANE mills are in demand by some of our subscribers. Manufacturers will do well to note this fact, and act accordingly.
