I the crank.

J connecting rod.

Exhaustion is carried on in the following manner:-The piston is elevated by turning the handle, and at the same time, the cock D begins to shut when the air in the barrel opens the circular valve, and rushes out into the atmophere; this continues until the top side of the piston comes in contact with the underside of the valve, and forms a geometrical surface.

When the piston begins to descend, the re-action of the compressed air above the circular valve forces it down along with the piston until it is stopped by the projection, coming against the packing ring n, the piston continuing to descend, and the same action taking place below as above.

For the purpose of condensing the air, the means to be employed will suggest themselves to every mechanic. R. J. N.

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for him and for ourselves, against the assumption on which it proceeds, that to object to the particular measures of the Temperance Societies is to advocate intemperance. No two things can be more distinct. Even T. M. B. is with us at last, as to the fallacy of these measures. -ED. M.M.]

Sir, I have been highly edified and amused by the controversy which has been for some time raging in the Mechanics' Magazine, on the subject of Temperance Societies; and in common, I believe, with every reader not absolutely destitute of brains, I am decidedly of opinion that Junius Redivivus has completely beaten the advocate of Temperance out of the field. I admire highly, too, the characteristic manner in which this has been effected: away, with all good-boy notions, say I; the only way is to get excited, and run a-muck! T.M.B. is evidently a personage who is very rarely dead-drunk, and therefore I, as a jolly fellow, hardly think him worth the trouble of abusing; Junius has done him the honour, however, and he must be right.

The object of my letter is not to advance anything new upon this subject, but to point out, in a calm, and even respectful, manner, to the blind, bigoted, brutal, stupid, sordid, senseless, ignorant, insolent, and irrational opponents of my great leader in the cause of intoxication, certain strong arguments contained in some of my said great leader's letters, and which they, with a cunning natural to(a slip of the pen," educationally acquired" by) persons of their perverse, piggish, and priest-ridden caste, have very conveniently omitted to notice; although I can hardly blame them, for even the ass, an animal only less stupid than themselves, has the instinct-(a slip again,the acquired habit') of self-preservation. I shall also accompany these arguments with a few plain facts, which will, I think, go some way, to show on which side the truth lies.

pated dunderheads who refrained from stimulating their faculties by alcohol! See, too, what a logical mind Junius himself possesses, who, in the same paper makes the remark, that drunkards are generally those who, possessing much lively mental energy, are, by want of education, deprived of the legitimate means of exerting it," and "that many of our first literary characters have been, and are, drunkards." A common reasoner would have supposed that authors were persons who had the means of exerting their mental energy more than the rest of the community, and that consequently they would be the most sober of all. Not so Junius He slyly pretends to believe that education is a preventive of drunkenness; but very ingeniously takes care to contradict himself before he concludes, lest he should prejudice the cause of universal instruction, and satisfactorily demonstrates that learned and unlearned ever did, and ever will, get gloriously drunk, in spite of all the Temperance Societies in the world.

"The Government, by their taxes on literature, are the real upholders of drunkenness." This is, I must be permitted to say, a perfect truism. The reducing of the duty on spirits-as any one whose energies have been a little excited by alcohol can plainly see-could have no effect on the matter, although persons who are silly enough to be guided by excise returns, and such inconvenient documents, will say that it has: it is the stamp duty of threepence-farthing on every newspaper that does it all. To show that this must be the fact, we need only turn to a country where no such duties are known-the United States of America. Who ever heard of such a thing as dram-drinking there? What traveller has ever asserted that the consumption of alcohol is regularly going on every morning at every tavern in every village of the Union? How would the very idea of establishing so ludicrous an association as a Temperance Society have been scouted, had so absurd a scheme been promulgated on the other side of the Atlantic!-I should like to know what that ridiculous old prig, T. M. B. (the weakness of whose position is shown by his trick of calling names-a practice only indulged in by those incapable of argument) can say to this. The fact appears to me quite irresistible, especially when

coupled with another: cheap publications of every sort have increased most amaz ingly of late years, and the natural consequence may be seen in the ruin of the gin-shop-keepers, which stares us in the face at every corner, in the greatly-increased sobriety of the working classes, in the pleasing lightness of the Old Bailey calendar, but, above all, in the enormous decrease in the excise on spirituous liquors! If the Government were only to take off all the "taxes on literature," doubtless the people of England would think as little of drinking ardent spirits as the people of the United States! Let us not forget, that it was the paper which exists untaxed in spite of Government (the Poor Man's Guardian) which first commenced the glorious crusade against the Temperance Societies, and led the way to light Junius to his prey. I very much admire the principles of that publication, and I hope that it will not be long ere Junius dignify the pages of the Mechanics' Magazine with a second edition of its attacks on the rights of property; in which, as a friend of order and good government, I shall of course lend him my best support.

The picture of the nobility which Junius drew in his reply was excellent. No doubt he has the very best opportunities of observing their manners, for, in fact, he has in several communications displayed a very minute acquaintance with the courtly circles of St. Giles's and the refined neighbourhood of Meux's brewery. I cannot say I ever was in company with a real peer of the realm myself, but I have often, as becomes an unprejudiced philosopher, been as "drunk

as a lord," and I am sure, then, to use an elegant expression of the higher classes, "I did not know B from a bull's foot"so that Junius's picture of their ignorance must certainly be very correct! I could have said a great deal more in support of this said reply-could have bepraised its gentlemanly tone, its close reasoning, its subtle logic, and the modesty of its writer's bearing-but that I have unfortunately mislaid the Number in which it appeared, having, I am afraid, used it to

We presume this is the journal to which T. M⚫ B alluded (p 227) when he observe, that we did not stand alone among the publications of the day in opposing the main rule of the Temperance Societies." It is a journal, however, which we have never seen, and which we rather think had no existence at the time we took the field.-ED. M. M.

light my pipe like all deep-thinkers, I smoke) instead of a Temperance Tract, whilst over-excited by alcohol. I must, therefore, reserve what I have further to say on this subject for another opportunity, and rush to the support of my commander in another part of the battle-field of controversy. True, the plan for the better housing of the working classes has not yet been attacked; but it is likely that it will be, and therefore as prevention is better than cure, I shall defeat the enemy before he makes his appearance!

One thing I greatly admire in this article is, the naïveté of Junius in drawing a picture of the manner of living of a man who earns £4 a-week, in order to show how those who earn thirty shillings a-week generally live-and then, after filling a page or so with minute details of this 4 pounder's existence, coolly observing, "there is a picture of misery which the whole world cannot match." His opponents will probably say, Why, then, give the details at all? If it is an isolated case, why select it for a general illustration? This will only show their own ignorance. If I wished to prove that men of £4000 a-year lived miserably, should I not select old Elwes or Daniel Dancer as a specimen? To be sure!

Well, then, that objection disposed of, let us proceed to the plan. This I decidedly pronounce to be equally excellent in theory and practice. One of its greatest beauties is the promotion of exercise. A man coming home to dinner will have no idle time upon his hands, even if he should live close to the spot, especially if he should have the happiness to be perched in the furthest room on the fifth story-after living in such an exalted situation for a few months, he will think nothing of the tread-mill. The mother, too, who wishes to leave her child at the nursery, will have enough to do-first, to descend from the top of the outer building, and then to ascend to the top of the inner one.

"The influence of the virtuous part of the community would reform the vicious." This is an excellent idea, but candour compels me to say that it is not original. It is a plagiarism from the philosophical farmer, who bought a rotten sheep at market and drove it among a whole flock of perfectly sound ones, in order to cure it most effectually.

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But the tendency of the scheme is the greatest recommendation. What does Junius say?" The almost imperceptible bearing of the whole system would be the inculcation of self-government as a habit." How admirably every thing conduces to this end. Not only are all to be lodged alike, but their food is to be cooked for them; their coal and candle bought for them; their children nursed and educated; and themselves washed and instructed by "the proprietor!" What, then, will they have to do, but to govern themselves? It would be an improvement, perhaps, if their clothes were put on, and their victuals cut, by a steamengine! This would give them a habit of depending on their own exertions for every thing.

A word or two as to bad legislation. T. M. B. denies its universal influence; how, then, are we to acoount for the fog at Christmas,* the slippery state of Holborn Hill, and the (expected) coming of the comet? When he has answered these questions, I shall be prepared to give him a second dose; on the present occasion, I think I have done enough to show that I have quite as much of the wisdom of my prototype as Junius Redivivus has of the " arrowy eloquence”

of his.

Yours, &c. SOLOMON SECUNDUS. Cat and Bagpipes, Old Year's Day.

P. S.-I have by me several old caricatures of Members of the Ugly Club, which I shall be happy to lend to Junius, to assist his imagination in drawing the portrait of his next adversary.—Plain argument and no personality is my motto!

A FEW PARTING WORDS TO T. M. B. ON TEMPERANCE SOCIETIES AND THE FORCE OF EDUCATION.

Sir,Your correspondent, and the ally of T. M. B., in No. 437, possesses as long a name as many a Spanish nobleman of pure Gothic descent. To quote it at every sentence would be utterly impracticable, in case of an argument with him; he must, therefore, excuse me, if, after the custom of the Spanish grandees, I shorten it off into ، The

No doubt our correspondent alludes to the fact, that no rewards have yet been offered by Govern ment to men of science for the invention of Fogdispersers.ED. M. M.