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An invention was patented in Great Britain by Mr. Sourbut, on the 28th of November, 1856, consisting in improvements in taps or valves, by which more covering surface is given to the orifices of them than usual. In place of the passage being made directly through the plug, it is made hollow, and the liquid entering at one part, passes along, and leaves it at another part, and he usefully applies this arrangement to lubricators. Our engraving (copied from the London Engineer") represents a section through one of these lubricators, b is the casting, a the plug, which is kept in position by the collar, c, and set screws, d. The casting, b, is secured in the globular receiver, e, containing the fluid, which can be screwed into the cylinder head or other place that is to receive the lubricating material. A handle, f, is attached to the projecting part of the plug, a, and a small funnel, g, is screwed or otherwise fixed to the end of it. The matter to be supplied to the receiver is poured into the funnel, and passes down a hollow, a', formed in the center of the plug, and then out at the side of it, passing through an orifice, b', in the casting, into the receiver, e. The plug, a, is in that position in which the passage, a', is open for the entrance of the lubricating fluid. There are two more holes in the casing, b , and b 3, and corresponding holes, a 2, and a , in the plug, a. Only one of the holes or passages in the plug, a, need be in communication with the receiver at the same time, and each may be brought in communication by turning the handle, f, to the required position. In one position the steam entering the hollow of the plug will pass through the holes, a 2, and b 2, into the upper part of the receiver ; in another position the lubricating matter will pass from the receiver ________________________________________________________________________________ V through the holes, a 3, and b 3, into the hollow of the plug and through the passage, 4.
