"All this wisdom, which had its origin in ancient games and sports of the field, led to the erection of extensive bath-houses, and the adoption of other healthful luxuries to which all the people could resort to recreate their wasted powers."
Many diseases are caused by the use of beds not properly aired; and it is difficult, if not impossible, to properly air, or ventilate, a mattress, made in the usual manner. If this could be done more thoroughly than it generally is, much sickness would be avoided.
To secure this object cheaply and efficiently is the design of the invention herewith illustrated. By it a complete circulation of air through the mattress is secured, which carries off all dampness arising from constant use. Thus the mattress becomes more healthy for sleeping purposes, more durable and better fitted for the sick room. The ventilators consist of coiled wire, covered with coarse cloth (to prevent the stuffing closing up the tube), running through the mattress in all directions. The ends of the coils are secured to the ticking by means of metal thimbles, inside of which are pieces of wire gauze, to prevent insects getting in, but which admit air freely. The cost of the ventilators is small, and they will last as long as any mattress. They can be applied to any bed at small expense.
This invention was patented through the Scientific American Patent Agency, January 10, 1871. The right to manufacture will be disposed of in any part of the country. Further information can be obtained by addressing the proprietors, Barnes & Allen, Hoosick Falls, N. Y.
The third annual exhibition of the National Photographic Association takes place at Horticultural Hall, Philadelphia, June 6, 1871. Prof. Morton is to deliver two lectures on Light.
Our English cotemporary, _Engineering_, appears to have seriously exercised itself in the perusal of our good-natured article on "English and American Scientific and Mechanical Engineering Journalism," which appeared in the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, February 4th; at least, we so judge from the tenor of an article in response thereto, covering a full page of that journal. The article in question is a curiosity in literature. It deserves a much wider circulation than _Engineering_ can give it, and we would gladly transfer it to our columns, but for its exceeding length--a serious fault generally, not only with _Engineering's_ articles, but most other technical journals published in England. It would scarcely do for them to be brief in their discussions, and above all other things, spice and piquancy must always be excluded. _Engineering_ evidently labors under the conviction that the heavier it can make its discussions, the more profoundly will it be able to impress its readers. Hence, we are equally astonished and gratified to find a gleam of humor flashing out from the ordinary sober-sided composition of our learned contemporary. The article came to us just as we were laboring under an attack of dyspepsia, and its reading fairly shook our atrabilious _corpus_. We said to ourselves, "can it be possible that _Engineering_ is about to experience the new birth, to undergo regeneration, and a baptism of fire?" The article is really worth reading, and we begin to indulge the hope that at least one English technical is going to try to make itself not only useful, but readable and interesting. And what is most perplexingly novel in this new manifestation, is the display of a considerable amount of egotism, which we had always supposed to be a sinful and naughty thing in technical journalism. And, as if to magnify this self-complaisance, it actually alludes to its "_own extensive and ever-increasing circulation in America_." Now to show how small a thing can impart comfort to the soul of our cotemporary, we venture to say that the circulation of _Engineering_ in this country cannot much exceed three hundred copies per week.