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Rumfoed CHEMICAL Works vs. John E. Lauer.—In this case, tried before Judge Blatchford, it will be remembered a decision was given against the plaintiff on the first claim. on the ground of want of novelty; it being contended by the defense that a pulverulent phosphoric acid was made by Bel'zelius under the name of three fourth's phosphate as early as 1816. The plaintiff maintained that the three fourth's phosphate of Berzelius was used for making bread, and moreover that the experts for the defense had not made the three fourth's phosphate, nor had they followed the process of Berzelius. Since the decision was rendered the chief witness for the defense has found that he was mistaken, and it appears that there is no evidence in the case impairing the claim for originality by the patentee. Upon affidavits setting forth these facts, the Judge has ordered the case to be re-cpened for further testimony, and a new hearing and a new decision. For particulars respecting the trial, see page 105 of the present volume of Scientific American—” When Doctors Disagree, who Shall Decide ? “ ' 11 Enormous Sale of Newspapers. The Herald publishes a tabulated statement of the sales of newspapers in New York city for the six months ending September 30th, from which it appears that an aggregate ol six million dollars' worth of city newspapers was sold in that time. The Herald has the largest daily sale; and the Lerlger stands at the head of the weekly issues. The law requires a tax to be paid upon gross receipts in excess of $5,000 per annum. The Herald's table is com piled from the official tax list, and is no doubt correct. The SCIENTIFIC American appears to be the only journal published in the city devoted to mechanical and engineering science whose receipts from the sale of papers exceed the sum exempt by law from taxation. The excess upon which we were required to pay taxes during the past year, amounted to $77,241. There are but six papers reported in the table referred to whose circulation equals that of the Scientific American. It is, no doubt, by far the best advertising medium in its specialty to be found in the country. Explosion at a Wood Preserving Establisliiraent. An explosion of one of the tanks used by Robbins' Wood Preserving Company, for saturating wood with carbolic acid, took place at their works in Third street, Brooklyn, on the evening of the 86th October, killing Mr. Martin Voorhees, the inventor of the.pect\liar form of tank used, also killing a laborer employed in the establishment, and injuring several others. A member of the firm has since publicly explained that the explosion was in reality a steam explosion ; the new tank being an experimental one in which the wood was placed in the same tank with the dead oil fr@m which the acid was distilled, and the steam being generated under high pressure from the sap contained in the green wood falling upon the hot oil at the bottom. Per contra, a correspondent of the Herald, writing in regard to this explanation of Mr. Robbins, asks how it happens that the remains of the two unfortunate men who were killed were blackened and charred, and their clothing nearly burned off, if “ superheated steam” caused the explosion. And again, whether this explosion, as well as the one in Jersey City last spring and the other in San Francisco last summer, which resulted from the attempts to put this same process into practical operation, are not attributable to some fatal error in the process itself, which renders it altogether impracticable. lIe also states that the explosion in San Francisco caused the loss of seven lives and more than $50,000 worth of property.
