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Wellington Independent, Volume I, Issue 41, 10 December 1845, Page 4

Mikiature Steam Engine.—An ingenious watcnauker and jeweller, at the Rynl Polytechnic Institution, has just completed the model of a high, pressure steam engine, an made th-.t it stands on » four penny piece with ground to spare. I' it the most curious specimen of minute workmanship e*er seen ; each part being , ma le according to stale,and iht: whole occupying so small a spice, that. <ri'h ths exception of the fly w.ifei, it m*y be corerrd wth a thimble. It is not simply a model out. wardly—i' Works with he greatest activity by me mi of atmospheric pressure (in lieu of steam); and the motion of the little ihuig, as is parts are 5 en labouring and heaving under tie first influence, ii indi-cribably curicm nn 1 beautiful. Some raonthi have bern expended upon the structure af this Hllipntian engine by Mr. Warner, and the difficulty oi die undertaking may be easily considered, when it is remembered how minute the valves and pistons, socket*, screws, and hidden apparatus mu-t be, and how accurately they must have been moulded and fitted to insure unbroken functional motion. li' s altogether a very pretty toy, and an extraordinary instance of what pauetire, perseverance, unl expert art zanship can accomplish. But Mr. Warner i<» practical hand ai su.:h curiosities. His case abound! in articles manufactured for elfin u.«e. He h«s scissors so minute that some hundreds go to a» ounce ; and there are knives belonging to the sams family, which aiv made «s they open to shut ff'th a smirt click. Quantities of other things are there of a like kind, made with the geatest neatness, requiring eyes of microscopic clearn-ss to ascertain their full perfection.—Mining Journal. A Wondekous Pigtail.—A. correspondent eends us a calculation derived from Government Returns, from which it appears tint in the year 1813, no less a sum than £8 001,449 is. 4d. ««« spent by the people of this country in tobacco-* tolerably round sum to " end in smoke." l f w ' stead of being smoked, it were spun inte pigtail, five.eights of an inch thich, it would form, he says, a line 99,470, miles lo ig.—Shkffield Ir"-