A combined bench and ironing table has been patented by Mr. Daniel H. Weller, of Boyertown, Pa. Combined with a reversible board with covered socket boxes are supports hinged to the legs of a bench, with other details, to make a desirable piece of furniture to serve the two purposes of a seat and a table to iron upon, with compartments for keeping the cloths used in ironing. A window frame and sash has been patented by Mr. John E. Jones, of New York City. The construction is such that the sashes when closed are to all intents and purposes air tight, and wear and friction are removed from the packing strips, so the sashes may be raised and lowered without injury to the packing, the invention being an improvement on a former patented invention of the same inventor. A tug fastener has been patented by Mr. Daniel T. Chambers, of Mansfield, Ohio. It is in the nature of a divided button, one portion integral with a shank that goes in the end of the single tree, and the other formed of two limbs, one completing the periphery of the button and the other extending up parallel with the shank and forming a part of the neck beside the button on which the trace is contained. A tug fastener for single trees has also been patented by the above inventor. It consists of a tilting latch hinged upon a horizontal axis at or near the end of the single tree, with one hub adapted to lie longitudinally with the single tree and the other to project upwardly at about a right angle thereto, making an easily operated device for fastening the traces to a single tree. A plaster fastener has been patented by Messrs. Forest M. Lampson, Alpheus M. Laning, and George W. Hogben, of Ripon, Wis. It consists of a metallic washer formed of thin sheet metal, slightly convex, and provided with a countersink in the center, formed by the process of stamping, the device being intended to secure plastering loosened by shrinking of the lath, etc., before it becomes cracked and disintegrated. A combined towel, hat and paper rack has been patented by Mr. Elbridge L. Scribner, of Amesbury, Mass. (P. O. Box 98). It is a simple, inexpensive, and efficient device, consisting of a frame formed of end pieces of wood, connected by wooden slats on the back, and supporting three rods of metal or wood for receiving the articles to be held, the lower rod being designed for receiving a roller towel, and the upper rod being offset or cranked for convenience in placing articles on the lower rods. NEW BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS. MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE UNITED STATES, CALENDAR YEAR 1885. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1886. Pp. 576.