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:s . I 






^s- -•• 



THE 



MECHANICS' MAGAZINE, 

MUSEUM, 

AND ' ' . , 

GAZETTE, 

JULY 1st — DECEMBER 30th, 1848. 



EDITED BY J. C. ROBERTSON. 



VOL. XLTX. 




X 



•' When the victory can leap ^ • ' 

A hanrett cro««'d 'with triumph, toil Is cTieitp." ^. 

fORD. ^ t 



■■/ 



LONDON : 

ROBERTSON AND CO.. 

MECHANICS' MAGAZINE OFFICE, No. 168, FLEET-STREET. 

AGENTS: FOR EDINBURGH, J. SUTHERLAND; 

GLASGOW, W. R. M'PHUN, AND DAVID ROBERTSON; 

DUBLIN, MACHIN AND CO., 8, D'OLIER STREET; 

PARIS, A. & W. GALIGNANI, RUE VIVIENNB; 

HAMBURGH, W. CAMPBELL. 

1848. 



/ 






INDEX 

TO THE FORTY-NINTH YOUlMR 



Acid, Cimne nd JalUon't potent I AzaUc oumiiciipt, on t cextaln, 



ImpTovemente in the maimfluv 
tttze of, 43 

, oxalic, LunlDf['i patent In- 

proTementi in, Alb 

— , Solomoni bdA Azula^'i pa- 
tent improvements in the manu- 
facture of, 547 



hy Jamee Cockle, Esq., M.A., 

Bairitter-at-law, 80 
Archimedean boiler fteraaoe, 

Maudtlaf's patent, 241 
Arehltectore, Treatiie on,Leed<'s, 

(rcTiew), 568 
Arctic ocean, temperature of, 187 



, Barnes' patent ImproTemeiet I; Arm strong's patent improvemeots 

in distillina, 573 * . . * • '> in water-pressure engines, 501 

Adams, Mr. 1. P., pension loftlZ ^ Articles of utility, registered de- 

Adeock's patent improYeD«^flt| in. signs for, 22, 46, 71, 04, \\9, 

ftimaces and fire-places, «53> " ""' '*' "*" "*" """ 



Aerating liqnort, Bursill's patent 

improvements in, 548 
Atrial locomotive, 169, 257 

Agricultnnl implements; prixes 
and medals awarded at the R4nral 
Agricultural SodatT's txhiUtloB 
at York, 69 

Agriculture, aid rendered by me- 
chanics to, 94 

Air, compressed, locomotive. Ba- 
ron von Rathen's, 6! ; first trial 
of; on common r^ads, 165, 186 

Alabaster, method of bringing out 
sculpture in, 80 

Alban's, Dr., improved steam 
boiler, 49 

, new mode of sheep 

washing, 179 

Algebra, on the signs used in, 200 

, on the principles of , as a 

system of general reasoning, 
293, 317. 346, 374. 392 

Algebraic equations. Notes on the 
theory of, by James Coclde, Esq., 
M.A., Barrister- at -Law, 10 

Algebraicae, Hora, by James 
Cockle, Esq.. M.A., 364, 517, 
555 

Algebraical and geometrical stu- 
dies, 626 

Alliott's patent apparatus for re- 
gulating the working of steam- 
boilers, 337 

patent platform weigh- 
ing machine, 409 

Alloys of ores, new method of 
extracting gold from, 489 

Althan's, Mr. H., historical notice 
of the coming comet, 16 

America, carpetmanufacturein, 21 

, electric telegraph law- 
suit in. 406 

American patents, recent, 31, 142, 
458, 476 

fast printing-press, 193; 
of English origin, 237, 271 
electro - magnetic 



tele- 
graph, 340 

Andrews, Mr. Thomas ; mode of 
electric insulation, 363, 430 

Aneroid barometer, 204 

Angell. Mr. J,; on the term "infi- 
nite," 443 

Animil nroducts, Louis's patent 
method of preserving, 525 

Aqueous solutions, test for organic 
matters in, 498 



143, 167, 191, 215, tS8, 262, 287, 
311, 885, 859, 883, 407, 480j 455, 
479, 503, 627, 551, 574, 560, 623, 
647 

Artificial stone, Orsi's, 308 

Arthur's decimal money, weights, 
and measures, 85 

Arts, decorative, Miss Wallace's, 
patent improvements in. 224 

Arts and Sciences, Weale's Rudi- 
mentary Treatises : Dr.Lardner's 
Steam-Engine, TomUnson's Na- 
tural Philosophy, Leeds's Archi- 
tecture, 566 

Ashley, Lord, letter to, on model 
lodging-houses for the working- 
classes, £4 

A tt wood's railway wheels, 476 

Augers, Newton's improvements 
in, 142 

Aurora Borealis of 18 Oct., 4H 

Axle-boxes, Normanville's patent 
improvements in, 458 

, Wrighton and Nor- 
manville's, 645 

Aytoun, R. Esq. ; plan for the im- 
provement ut Dover haibour, 344 

Bacon's safety fuze, 31 

Baddeley, Mr. W. : Report on the 
London Fires for 1847, 101 ; 
sanitary reform v. the insanity 
of science, 160; Deane, Dray, 
and Deane's ces&pool cleanser, 
134, 218; Cro&kili's improved 
liquid manure cart, 249 ; potato 
disease— effects of steam meteor- 
ologically contidered, 284 ; appli- 
cation of gutta percha to the 
insulation of electric wires, 309 ; 
Paul's patent excavator and 
drain - cutting machine, 323 -, 
sanitary measures—trapping and 
ventilating sewers, 413, 414; 
steam - boiler regulator, 465 ; 
Gossage's engine pump, 560; 
Tyler's water closet, 609 

fiaggs', Mr., lectures on eh ctridty, 
84; discoveries in electricity, 129 

Baker's safety gun-lock, 466. 515 

Baldwin's locomotive steam-en- 
gine. 454 

Balloon, a governable, 169, 257 

Bands, hat, Walker's patent Im- 
provements in. 646 

Barber, John T., Esq. ; observa- 
tions of the aurora boreals of 
18 Oct., 414 



Barber's patent improvements in 
sawing machinery. 570 

Barlow and Foster's patent im> 
pror ements in electric telegraphs 
and apparatus, 497 

Barometer, the new French, Ane- 
roid, 204 

Bars, furnace, Fellows' improve- 
ments in, 183 

metal, Turton's patent im- 
provements in bending, into car- 
riage springs, 570 

Barsham^s patent improvements 
in mats, 570 

Barnes' patent improvements in 
gas, &c.. 573 

B^e's patent improvements in 
steam-engines, propelling and 
preventing Incrustation, 599 

Beauregard's patent steam-engine, 
411 

Becquerel, M. C. ; coloured photo- 
graphic image of the solar 
spectrum, 213 

Bell, W., Esq., on the motion of 
the sea, 155 

, Improved diving, 219 

Bentham, Brig.-Gen. Sir Samuel; 
mode of constructing sea-walls, 
83 ; application of water to dif- 
ferent kinds of fuel, 140; on the 
means of fastening together the 
component parts of vessels for 
navigation, 150, 171 ; system of 
employing buoyant masses for 
foundations in deep water, 278; 
employment of iron in the con- 
struction of ships, 350 ; floating 
atf ssoon gate of the great basin 
in Portsmouth dockyard, 441 ; 
collateral uses to which sea-walls 
!may be applied, 461 ; storing 
tiniber, 531 ; niachanical prtnci- 
Bjes of ba^ijig, rigging, and 

' Cbct n fnmcXwg 'saw-mills 
•♦ teto En, land, 599 ; mounting 
ordnance on the non-recoil prin- 
ciple, 634 
Binomiil coefficients, on some 
properties of, 2 TO 
I Bird's patent improvements in 
liquid measures, 1 S9 
Black's patent improvements in 

evaporation, 183 
Blackwell's patent improvements 

in evaporating furnaces, 121 

Blast-furnace Merthyr 'Tydvil, 

I remarkable accidi.-nt at, 447, 466 

Blasting, galvanic, 415 
: Blowing machines, Llo>d'6 patent, 
] 265 

I Boardman and Wells' improvement 
: in clucks and time-pieces, 31 

Bodies, falling, on the deviation 

I of from the peri>endicular, 13 

Boilers, steam, incrustation in, 475; 

Seaton's patent iuiprovements 

in preventing and removing, 

I 549; Beale's patent method of 

I preventing, 599 



Bdlert, ittan : Dr. Altmn'!, 40 ; 
Howes' watcr-gaiiKe, 75; Eatl of 
Dnndonald'i patent Improve- 
m«nU, 183; Maudilay's patent 
Arehhnedean f urn ace, 241 ; Al- 
Uotfs patent apparatna for re- 
galatiiif the working of, 337 ; 
mode of regulating the supply of 
water to, S97, 451 ; Yalentlne'a 
fanproTementa in, 458; Badde- 
ley and Moy's regulators, 465 

Booles' theory of the mathematical 
basis of logic, 254 

Boame*s strictures on the Cornish 
steam-engine, 195 

Boatigny's discoreries In heat.. 
411 ? 

Bowstring girders, Fox.Hendersgih 
and Co.'s, 285 

Boxes, Stacker's patent, 474 

Boyden'swater wheels, 476 / 

Branson's, Dr., mode of electro 
painthjg, 41 

Breakwaters composed of tertical 
floats, by Lient.-Coh Yule, 
R.B., 1 

, Bruce's pate/it method 

of constructing, 97 

, should they be sloping 

or Tertical r 76, 129, 136, 154, 
181, 196, 201, 233, 254. 282, 28G, 
328, 342, 368, 399, 426, 445, 469, 
515, 537, 559 

-, the Plymouth, 342 



Bricks, ornamental, Orsi's, 308 

Brldgo^ tubular, the InTcntor of, 
21 

, Remington's, at Shir- 

leywieh, 133, 161 

, wrought-iron, bowstring 

girders for, 285 

. Niagara suspen^tlon, 332 

.Dredge's foot suspension, 

at Shadwell, 356 

Brindley's patent improvements 
in papier marh6, 573 

British Association at Swansea, 186 

Brown and Redpath's smiths' 
portable forge, 94 

Bruce's patent method of con- 
structing piers and breakwaters, 
97 

Budd, Mr. J. P., on the apiilica- 
tion of the gases evolTCd from 
b!ast furnaces to heating pur- 
poses, 2o8 

Bullions, Dalton's patent improve- 
ments in, 597 

Bulwarks, stone, elasticity of, 
613 

Bnnnett's self acting efDurla-trap, 
444 

Buoyant masses, Sir Samuel Ben- 
tham's system rf employing, for 
foundations in deep water, 278 

Bursill's patent iraprnvementK in 
aerating liquors, 548 

Bosh's patent compass, 521 

Butterworth, the mathemaUcfan, 
biographical particulars of, 297, 
377 

Cables, chain, Dunn and Elliott's, 

machine for testing, 19 
Caissoon, floating gate, of thcGrcat 

Basin, Portsmouth Dockyard, 

411 
Cambridge, reforms at, 449. 485 
Caoutchouc, Hancock an ; Phillips' 

patent improrements in the 

manufacture of, 45 
, vulcanized, socket 

Joints, 617 



INDBX. 

Capper's, patent method of pre- 
paring and' cleaning minerals, 
ftc. 596 

Cards, show, Stocker's patent, 474 

Carpentei^s, Captain, quarter pro- 
peller», 222 

Carpet^ manufaeture in America, 

Carpats, Wood's, patent improve- 
m«nts in weaving and printing, 

Carriages, railway : Henson's pa- 
^tent, 385 ; Normanville's, patent, 

.' 453; Harding's, safety addi- 
tions, 534; Turton's, patent im- 
provements in benaing metal 
Slates into springs for, 5/0 ; 
fsnsell's, patent, 571 

Cart, liquid manure, Croskill's 
improved, 249, 307 

Cart and Watson's patent im- 
provements in the manufacture 
of gas, 179 

Cash box, railway. Spark's, 81 

Caspian, the, steam navigation 
on, 118 

Cata-dioptric system, for light- 
house lights, Mr. Gordon's, 262 

Cave's method of preventing 
incrustations in steam boilers, 
475 

Caulking, improvements in, 306 

Cements, Orsi's patent improve- 
ments in, 308 

the new Portland, 325 



Cesspool cleanser, Deane, Dray 
and Deane's, 184, 185, 248, 307 

Chain cables, Dunn and Elliott's, 
machine for testing, 19 

Chair -pin, railwav, pressing ma- 
chine, Harrlson^s, 32 

Challenge to the mathematicians 
of the 19th century, 639 

Chamberlain's patent apparatus 
for recording votes at elections, 
598 

Chanec's patent improvements in 
furnaces and manufacture of 
glass, 184 

Charcoal, Solomons and Azulays' 
patent improvements in, 547. 

Chesnel, T. G. de, Esq., on the 
electric telegraph. 342 

Chimneys, sioolcy, Sir H. Hait's, 
patent apparatus for preventing, 
598 

Chrononietric governor, Mr. 
Joseph Woods', 1 1 8 

Chninomeiers, Restel and Clark's, 
patent improvements in, .'>02 

Circular sawing, experiment in, 
18 

Clark, Hyde, Esq., on the diffu- 
sion of sound, 218, '2CiS 

Clip desk, Wedgewooci's, 405 

Clocks and time pieces, Board- 
man and Wells's improvements 
in, 31 

Coal mines. Mr. Gurney's plan for 
the ventilation of, fi33 

Coaling of ships' bottoms, 214 

Cockle James, Esq., M.A., Bar 
rister at Law ; theory of al;.'c- 
brnicequations, 10, onacertain 
Arnbic manuscript, SO; fragment 
on loijic, 79 ; Horae Alge- 
bj aim?. 304, 517, 555 

Coefficients, binuinial, en some 
properties of, 270 

Cof?ee, Remlngton'.-J improve- 
ments in roasting, 31 

Coins, how to obtain prints from, 
132 



III 

Coke, catting properties of, 208 

Cole's patent high-pressure and 
expansion double cylinder beam 
engine, 301 ; safety vaire, 529 

Combing wool, Sargent's patent 
improvements in, 142 

Combustion, spontaneous, 21 

Comet, the coming, historical no- 
tice of, 16 

Compass, Bush's patent, 521 

Compressed air locomotive. Baron 
Von Rathen's, 61 ; first trial of, 
on common roads, 165, 186 

Concussion shells, 190 

Condie's patent steam-hammer, 
330 

Congeneric surd equations, by 
Professor Young, 463 

Cooch's patent improvements in 
sackholders, 524 

Coode's patent system of liquid 
manure distribution, 369 

Copper, Low's patent improv**^ 
ment in the manufacture of, 35 
Penny's patent improve- 



ments in obtaining, frcm ccp 
per ores, 549 

Cornish steam-engine, and Mr. 
Bourne's strictures. 135 

Cork-cutting, Travers's improve- 
ment in, 142 

Corrugated r.iilway wheels, Lath- 
rop's patent, 56S. 573 

Cottage range, Newark, Nichol- 
son's, 73 

Cotton yams, Hague and Frith's 
patent Improvements in doub- 
ling and twisting, 549 

Crane and Jullion's patent im- 
provements in the manufacture 
of acids and salts, 42 

Croskill's improved liquid manure 
cart, 249, 307 

Cube root of a line, how to find by 
rule and compasses, 632 

Culvers hot air furnace, 477 

Cunningham and Carter's patent 
railway signal apparatus, 348 

Currency, nn expansible, 21 

Customs, the, maladministration 
of, 258 

Cutting properties of coke, 208 

Cutler's patent welded lap-iron 
tubes, 54 

Cylinder casting at the Haigh 
foundry, 5S9 

Dalston's patent improvements 

in fringes, gimps, and bullions, 

597 
Darlu's patent improvements in 

obtaining motive power, 597 
Davies. Professor, F.R.S., L. & E. 

Geometry of the line and plane, 

82, 291, 440. 495, 535 
Davies's, Is., patent rotary steam 

engine, and steam-tight metallic 

packing. 433, 4.51, 4i7, 481, 516 
Day's improved wind-guards, 

217 
Dcane, Dray and Dean's portable 

lire engine and water pump, 75, 

118; cesspool cleanser, l64, 185, 

Decimal money weights and mea- 
sures. Arthur's, 3S 

Decorative arts. Miss Wallace's 
patent improvements In, 224 

Desijin^, registered, for articles of 
utility, 22, 40, 71, 91, 119. 143, 
I(j7, lyl, 21j. 239, 262, 287, 311, 
335, 3'.9, 3S2, 407, 430, 455, 479, 
503, 527, 561, 574, 5(50, 623, 647 



302211 



IV 

DeBk'Clip, 'Wedgewood% 405 

Despatch-box, rallTray, Sparke's, 
SI 

Diary, the Lady's and Gentleman's, 
547 

Diffusion of sound, 218, 268, 447 

Diffusibility of the electric light, 
611 

" Dispatch" monster press, 644 

Distillation, Maltby and Webb's 
patent improvements in, 18 

Tottie's, ditto, 182 

Diving-bell, improved, 219 

Division, synthetic, 111 

Dodd's rail-straightening machine, 
12 

Doubling cotton-yams, &c. .Hague 
and Firth's patent improve- 
ments in, 549 

Douglass', Sir Howard, Protest, 
368, 427, 4C9, 515, 537 

Douglas's syphons, 476 

Dover harbour of refuge, and Six 
Samuel Bentham's mode of con- 
structing sea walls, 33 ; Mr. Ay- 
toun's plan for the improvement 
of. 344 

Drainage plan for London, 630 

Drain-flushing apparatus, Salter's 
patent, 505, 540 

Drains for laying pipes or tiles, 
method of cutting, 276 

cutting machine, Paul's 

patent, 823 

Dredge, Mr., and Weston-super- 
mare pier and bridge company, 
156 

Dredge, W. Esq., C.E. ; seawalls, 
should they be sloping or ver- 
ticnl f 77, 1D6, 233, 254 ; impro- 
ved mode of trussing girdeis, 
112: foot suspension bridge, 
Shadwell, 356; Mr. Stephen- 
son's experiments on the lateral 
force of waves, 538; elasticity 
of stone bulwarks, 613 

Dondonald's, Earl of, patent im- 
provements in marine steam 
boilers. 183 

Dunham's, expansion-Joint for 
steam engines, 142 

Dunn and Elliott's machine for 
testing chain cables, 19 

Dynamics, questions in, 213 



Earth, investigation of the pres- 
sure of, against revetementwalls, 
466, 524 
Ebullition, remarkable experi- 
ment* in, 405 
Eccentric roller, Mr. W. B. John- 
son's, 35 
Eddystone lighthouse, 342, 868 
Effluvia, self-acting trap, Bun- 

nett's, 444 
Egan, J. B., Esq. ; cheap railways 

for India, 250 
Elasticity of stone bulwarks, 613 
Elections, Chamberlain's patent 
apparatus for recording votes at, 
598 
Electrical machines, 69 
Electricity.Mr. Bagg's lectures on, 
84 ; his discoveries in, U9; firing 
shells by, 298 
Electricligbt,Sta!te's,382, 522. 546 

, diTusibllity of, 611 

Electricus, gymnotus, the, 178 
Electro-painting, Dr. Branson's 
mode of, 41 

magnetism, employment cf 

as a motive power, I hG 



INDEX. 

Electro-motive engine, Mr. Era- 
ser's, on the supposed principlei 
of muscular attraction, 299, .171, 
428, 459, 545 

Electro - telegraphy ; improved 
modes of insulating electric wires 
by gutta percha, by J. H. Ham- 
merton, Esq., 272, 880; by Fran- 
cis \?hishaw, Esq., 309: by A. 
Bain, Esq., 309; by Z. U„ 310; 
by Mr. Reed, 339 ; by Mr. Tho- 
mas Andrews, SOS, 430; by 
VolU, 898 ; by M.G.,400 ; Barlow 
and Foster, 497 ; improved in- 
struments, by J. N. Holmes, 
Esq. 330, 342 ; Professor Morse's 
claims, 340, 406 ; Hammerton's 
testing box for electric telegraph 
under-ground tubes, 464 

Eromoti's patent improvements in 
fuel and furnaces, 622 

Engine pump, Gossage's, 560 

Enrolment offices, new act for the 
reform of, 260 

Equations, algebraic, notes on the 
theory of, by JamesCockle,M. A., 
Barrister-at-Law, 10 

congeneric surd, by 



Professor Young, 463 
Equipping ships, mechanical 

principles of, 582 
Evaporating Furnaces,Blackweir8 

patent improvements in, 121 
— — ^— Bhick's patent Im- 
provements In, 183 
Excavator, Paul's patent, 323 
Expansible, currency, an, 21 
Expansion joint for steam engines, 

Dunham's, 142 
Explosion of a stationanr steam 

engine, report of the Franklin 

institute on, 470 
" Ex-reviewer" at fault, 357 
Extinction of fires in railway 

trains, 342 
Extinguisher, spark, Gibson's, 

Fabrics, looped, Mowbray's patent 
improvements In, 646 

, textile, Robertson's pa- 
tent improvements In the ma- 
nufacture of, 93 

Falling bodies, on the deviation 
of, fVom the perpendicular, 13 

Farmers' and graziers' portable 
mill, Remington and Whitton's, 
608. 

Fastening together the component 
parts of model vessels, by Sir 
Samuel Bentham,150, 171 

Fellow's improrements in fUmace 
bars, 1S.1 

File-handle, double, Groves and 
Son's, 12 

Fire engine, portable. Deane,Dray, 
andDeane\ 75.118 

proof, Payne's process of ren- 
dering wood, 140 

at New York, 162 

Fires, London, Mr. Baddeley's re- 
port on, for 1847, 101 

, extinction of, in railway 

trains, 842 

Firing shells by electricity, 298 

Floats, vertical, on breakwaters 
composed of, by Lieut. Col. 
Yule, R.E., 1 

Fluctuating steam engine slider, 
Rowan's, 373 

Fluids, Humphry's patent im- 
provements in apparatus for 
raising, exhausting and forcing, 
36 



Fluids, Uaigh's patent improre- 
ments in measuring, 475 

Flushing drain apparatus, Salter's 
patent, 505, 540 

Foot's patent improvements in 
making skeins of silk, 597 

Forge, smith's portable. Brown 
and Redpath's, 94 

Form, Idea of, to be attached to 
the higher powers of numbers, 
200, 244 

, relation between number 

and, 326 

Forster, T. E., Esq., on Mr. Gur- 
ney's plan for the ventilation of 
coal mines, 638 

Forsyth's patent railway wheels, 
390 

Fox, Henderson and Co's. bow- 
string girders, 285 

Foundations,SirSamuelBentham'a 
system of employing buoyant 
masses for. In deep water, 278 

Fountain pump, Sbalder**, 559 j 

Franklin Instltnte, report of, on 
the explosion of a stationary 
steam engine. 470 

Franklin's discoveries, 406 

Frsser, W., Esq., M.R.C.S.E., : 
electro-motive engine.construct- 
ed on the supposed principles of 
muscular action, 299, 871, 428, 
459, 545 

Fringes, Dalton's patent Improve- 
ments in, 597 

Fuel, on the application of water 
to the different kinds of, 140 

, peat, Roger's patent, 572 

, Emmott's patent Improve- 
ments in, 622 

Fur fabrics, Westhead's patent, 598 

Furnace bars. Fellow's improve- 
ments in, 183 

Furnaces; Blackwell's patent im- 
provements in, 121 ; Chance's 
patent improvements In, 184; 
Mandslav's patent Archimedean 
boiler, 241; remarkable acci- 
dent at Merthyr Tydvil, 447, 
466 ; Culver's hot air, 477 ; Ad- 
cock's patent, 553; Hunt's pa- 
tent, 599 ; Emmott's patent 
improvements In, 622 

Fuze, Bacon's safety, 31 

Galvanic blasting, 415 

Galvani's improvements in steam 
engines, 142 

Gardner's railway wheel, 476 

Gas, Watson and Cart's patent 
improvements in the manufac- 
ture of, 179 

, evolved from blast fUtnacet, 

on the application of, to heating 
purposes, 208 

, Solomons and Azulay's pa- 
tent Improvements in, 647 

, Barnes' patent improvements 

in, 573 

Gates, sluice, long and short 
hinges for, 178 

(floating caissoon, of the 

Great Basin, Portsmouth Dock- 
yard, 441 

Gauge, water, Howe's steam boiler, 
75 

pipe, water, Lapointe's, 330 

Geometrical and algebraical stu- 
dies, 626 

— — proposition and de- 
monstration. 137 

Geometry of the line and plane. 
82,291,440,495,539 



Genmuij, recognition of intellec- 
tual property in, 429 

Giants of other days, 214 

Gibson's spark extinguisher, 477 

Gimps, Dalton's patent improve- 
roents in, 597 

Girders, Dreilge's improved mode 
oftmsaing, 112 

, wrought iron bowstring, 

for bridges, 28S 

Glass weights, Venetian, 42 

, Chance's patent improve- 

menu in the manufacture of, 184 

, pipes, 450, 546 

Glue, marine, 188 

Wyn, Mr., on hjrdrauHc pressure 
engines, 209 

Gold, new method of extracting, 
from ailoyt of ores, 489 

Gordon's Mr.,' cata-dbptric system 
for lighthouse lights, 262 

1 (L. D. B.) patent under- 

lap Jointed raU, and other im- 
provements in railways, 420, 

Gosaage's engine pump, 560 

Governable balloon, 169, 257 

Governor, ehronometric, 118 

Grame's improvements in steam 
valves, 142. 

Gray, W. T., death of, and claims to 
the title of " Railway Pioneer," 
404 

Green and Newman's patent me- 
thod of attaching tyres to rail- 
way wheels, 391 

Gregory, A., Esq. ; improved safety 
valve, 513 

Gresbam professorships, 38, 64, 
89, 114, 123, 166,190,211 

Groat's railway breaks, 476 

Groves and Son's double file- 
handle, 12 

Goards, wind. Day's improved, 
217 

Gnn, safetv lock, 466 

Gorney'a, Mr., plan for the venti- 
lation of coal mines, 633 

Gutta percha, 21; patents, No. 
XXI., Messrs. Thomas Hancock 
and Reuben Fhilips', SOth Dec, 
1847,45; No. xiii., Mr. Charles 
Hancock's. 1 1th May, 1848, 490 ; 
manufactures, 209; works, 309; 
application of, to the insulation 
of electric wires, 272, 309, 3 10, 
339, 380, 398, 406. 497 

Gymnotua electricus, 178 

risgue and Frlth's patent im- 
provements in twisting and 
doubling cotton yarns, &c., 549 

Uaigb's patent improvements in 
measuring floids, 475 

Hammer, steam, Condic's patent, 
330 

Hammerton, J. H., Esq., improved 
mode of electric insulation, 272, 
380 

, . J testing- 
box, for electric telegraph under- 
ground tubes, 464 

Hancock and Phillips' patent im- 
provements in the treating or 
manufBcture of gutta percha, or 
any of the varieties of caout- 
chouc, 45 

'a, Mr. Charlee, patent im- 
proved preparations and com- 
pounds of gutta percha, 490 

Hand printing press, Harrild and 
Bon's, 468 

Haigh foundry, cylinder casting at, 
539 



INDEX. 

Harbour df Refuge, Dover, and 
Sir Samuel Bentham's mode of 
constructing sea walls, 33 

, Dover, plan 



for the improvement of, 344 

, for Ireland, 

436 

Harding's safety addition to rail- 
way carriages, 534 

Hat-bands, Walker's patent im- 
provements in, 646 

Harrild and Son's hand printing 
press, 468 

Harrison's railway chainpfn press- 
ing machine, 32 

Hartes' patent sowing and ma- 
nuring mschlne, 452 

Hart's, Sir H., patent apparatus 
for preventing smoky chimoeys, 
598 

Harvey and West's hydraulic valve, 

Heat, Boutigny's discoveries in, 
411 

Heating, application of gases 
evolved flrom blast fbrnaces to, 
208 

Henson's patent railway carriages 
and wagons, 385 

Hinges, long and short for sluice- 
gates, 178 

Hodgson's parabolic propeller in 
Holland, ISO 

Hoe, Messrs. and Co.'s, fast print- 
ing press, 193 

Holdfast, spring, for window- 
sashes, TibbitsS 80 

Holmes', N. J., Esq. ; improve- 
ments in the electric telegraph, 
830, 342 

Hookah system of ventilation, 307 

Horse Algebraicse, by James 
Cockle, Esq., M.A., 364, 517, 
555 

Houses, model lodging, for the 
working-classes; letter to Lord 
Ashley on, 54 

Howe's steam-boiler water-guage, 
75 

Hulse and others r. Esdale and 
others ; the wood-paving patents, 
20 

Humphry's patent improvements 
in steam-engines, and in appar 
ratus for raising, exhausting, 
and forcing fluids, 36 

Hunt, £., Enq.; aerial locomo- 
tive or governable balloon, 169, 
257 

Hunt's patent improvements in 
the manufacture of metals and 
salts, 599 

patent improvements in 

obtaining metals, 646 

Hussey's portable meat-screen, 222 

Hutchinson, P., Esq. ; description 
of a piston-valve by, 493 

Hydraulic engine. Walker's patent, 
53, 145, 231 

valve, Harvey and 

West's, 187 

pressure engines, 209 ; 

Armstrong's patent, 601 

Incrustation in steam-boilers. 475; 
Scaton's patent improvements 
in preventing or removing, 549; ; 
Beale's patent method of pre- 
venting, 599 

India, cheap railways for, 250 

India rubber, vulcanized, socket 
joints, 617 ' 

'* Inflnite," the term, 443 



V 

Insulation (electric), improved 
mode of, by application of gutta 
percha, 272, 309, SIO, 359, 363, 
398, 406, 430, 497 

Intellectual property, recognition 
of In Germany, 429 

Inventions, Letters Patent for— 
Supplement to Webster's Law 
and Practice of, (review), 333 

Iodized papers, preparation of, by 
one solution only, 1 34 

Iron, steel, and sheet iron, method 
of welding, 30 

' tubes, welded lap, Cutler's 

I patent, 54 

, emplo}-ment of, in the con- 
struction of ships, 350 " 
I Ivory, softening of, 22, 81 

James, W., and G. Stephenson, 
rival claims of, 401.500 

James, Mr. W. J.; practical sugges- 
tions subsidiary to a general 
survey of the kingdom, 448 

Jenning's saccharometer, 258 

Jobard, M. ; recognition of intel- 
lectual property in Germany, 
429 

Johnson, Mr. W. B.,; roller 
eccentric, 35; patent improve- 
ments in locomotive engines, 
625 

Joint, expansion-valve, for steam- 
engines, Dunham's, 142 

-— , screw union, for water-pipes, 
Rontree and Brown's, 465 

Joints, socket, vulcanized India 
rubber, 617 

Jordan's preparation of iodized 
papers by one solution, 134 

King, Mr. ; challenge to the mathe- 
maticians of the 19th century, 
639 

Kane's, improvement in railway 
wheels, 142 

Kelrick, Mr. J., on Mr. Hunt's 
governable balloon, 257 

Lady's and Gentleman's Diary, 
547 

Laming's patent improvements in 
oxalic acid, 475 

Lapointe's water gauge pipe, 320 

Lardner, Dr.; Treatise on the 
steam engine, (review,) 566 

Lathrop's patent corrugated rail- 
way wheels, 563, 573 

Leather, Zollickofler's improve- 
ments In, 454 

Leeds's Treatise on Architecture, 
(review,) 568 

Leibnitz's theorem, 324 

Le Verrier and the planet Nep- 
tune, 381 

Lewis's Improvement in pneuma- 
tic springs for railway cars, 31 

Light, the electric, 382, 522, 546 ; 
diffUsibiUtyor,611 

Lighthouse lights, 262 

the Eddystonc, 342. 



368 

Lighting, application of vpirltuous 
substances and oils to ; Mr. C. 
P. Mansfield's patent improve- 
ments, 43 

Liquid measures, Bird's patent 
improvements in, 159 ; Haigh's 
patent, 475 

Liquid manure cart, 249, 307 

distribution, Coods's 



I'Htent system of, 369 



Yl 

Lloyd's patent blowing mscbines, 
265 

Lock, safety gun, 466, 515 

Locomotion, menattrite, Miller's 
patent system of, 599 

Locomotive, compressed air, Ba- 
icn Von Rathen's, 61; first 
trial of, on common roads, 165, 
186 

8teamengines,M'Co- 

nochie and Claude's patent im- 
provements, 289, 313; Reming- 
ton's patent, 548, 612; W. B. 
Johnson's patent improvements, 
625 

Lodging, (model) houses for the 
working classes, letter to Lord 
Ashley on, 64 

Logic, fragment on, by James 
Cockle, Esq., M.A., 79 

, Boole's theory of the ma- 
thematical basis of, 254 

Logical falsehoods, mechanical 
truths, 400, 422 

London fires, Mr. Baddeley's re- 
port on, for 1847, 101 

London drainage plan, 639 

Looped fabrics, Mowbray's patent 
improvements in, 646 

Longitude, Report of the Ameri- 
can Superintendent of th? Coast 
Survey, on the employment of 
the electro-magnetic telegraph, 
to determine the differences of, 
274 

Looms, Smith's patent improve- 
ments in, 501 

Lover, Professor; galvanic blast- 
ing. 415 

Lowe's patent improvements in the 
manufacture of copper, S5 

MacgrefTor, J. Esq. ; Captain 
Spike's mode of raising sunken 
vessels. 17 -, Mr. Bagg's lectures 
on electricity, 84 

Madigan and Haddan's patent 
railway wheels, 391 

Magneto plating, 21 

Maltby and Webb's patent im- 
provements in distiUaiion, 18 

Mansell's patent improvements 
in railway and common road 
vehicles, 571 

Mansfield's, Mr. C. P., patent im- 
provements in the manufacture 
and purification of spirituous 
substances and oils, and in the 
applicatiuu thereof to lighting, 
4J 

Manure, liquid cart, Crobkill's 
improved, 249, 307 

, distribution, Coode's 

patent system of, 369 

, Richardson's patent 

improvements in the manufac- 
ture of, 647; Rogers's ditto, 
572 

Manuring machine, Hartes' pa- 
tent. 452 

Marine glue, 188 

Mathematical periodicals. Contri- 
butions to the history of, 5, 203, 
303, 367, 437, 523 

, recreations simpli- 
fied. 462, 495 

Materials, on the strength of, 
639 

Mats, Barsham's patent improve- 
ments in, .'i7o 

Maudsiay'b patent sclf-aclingtteam 
propeller, and Archiiiici'.c.iu fur- 
nace boiler, 241 



INDEX. 

Mathematicians of the 19th cen- 
tury, challenge to, 639 

M'Conochie and Claude's patent 
locomotive engine, 289, 313 

M*Cormac. H., Esq., M.D. ; on the 
effect of superincumbent pres- 
sure, as regards the question 
whether »ea walls should be 
sloping or vertical, 9 ; fast print- 
ing press, 271 ; improvements 
in trenails and caulking, 306 ; 
hookah system of ventilation, 
307 ; harbour of refuge for Ire- 
land, 436 

Measures, decimal, Arthur's, 35 

, liquid, Bird's patent, 

159 ; Haigh's patent, 475 

Meat screen, Hussey's portable, 
222 

Mechanical truths, logical false- 
hoods, 400, 422 

principles of building, 

rigging, and equipping ships, 
582 

Mechanics, aid rendered by, to agri- 
culture, 94 

, Roberts's new element 

in, 18(3, 255 

Medals, how to obtain prints fiuro, 
132 

Menattrite locomotion, Miller's pa- 
tent system of, 599 

Merthyr T}dvil, remarkable acci- 
dent to a blast furnace at, 447, 
466 

Metallic steam-tight packing, Da- 
vies's patent, 433, 451, 457, 4m, 
516 

Metals, Th!>mas and Delisse's li- 
quid for cleansing, 481 ; the spe- 
cification, 533 

, Capper's patent improve- 
ment in the manufacture of, 
597 ; Hunt's patent improve- 
ments in manufacturing, 599; 
Hunt's patent improvements in 
obtaining, 646 

Metal tubes, Taylor's patent im- 
provements in, !i'25 

plates, Turton's patent im- 
provements in bending into car- 
riage springs, 570 

Mines, coal, Mr. Guiuey's plan for 
the ventilation of, 633 

Mill, roller, Stanley's, 601 ; farmers 
and graziers' portable. Reming- 
ton and Whitton's, 608 

Miller's patent system of menat- 
trite locomotion, .599 

Milne, Mr. 8. B. ; Deane. Dray and 
Deane's cesspool cleanser, 185, 
307 

Milk, Louis's patent method of 
solidifying, 525 

Minerals, Capper's patent method 
of preparing and cleansing, 596 

Mining, quicksilver superseded 
in, 118 

Minus and plus, on the signs of, 
417,58% 611 

McLardy and Lewis, patent im- 
provements in spinning, 475 

Model prison at rentouville, sys- 
tem of warming and ventilating 
adopted nt. 2^, 62 

lodging houses for the 

working; classes, letter to Lord 
Ashley on, 54 

Money, decimal, Arthut's, 35 

Morse's, Professor, claims to the 
electro magnetic telegraph, 340 

Morewood, J. J., Esq. ; Great Lon- 
don clrainnRe plan, 639 



Mosely, Profesaor ; investigation of 
the pressure of the earth against 
revetement walls, 4G6, 52i 

Motive power; employment of 
electro-magnetism, 186; Price's 
patent improvements in obtaiu- 
mg and applying, 500 ; Darlu'a 
patent improvements in obtain- 
ing, 597 

Mowbray's patent improvements 
in looped fabiics, 646 

Moy, Mr. T. ; mode of regulating 
the supply of water to steam- 
boilers, 397, 451, 465 

M'Sweeny, Dr., on the ventilation 
of ships, 606 

Murdoch, James, Esq., C.E. ; Ro- 
berts's new element in mecha- 
nics, 255 

Murphy, the mathematician, bio- 
graphical notice of, 297, 354 

Murray, Professor, on Staite's 
electric light, 522 

Muscular action; Mr. Eraser's elec- 
tro motive engine, constructed 
on the supposed principle* of, 
299, 371 



Naphthn, 406 

Nasmyth, Mr. J., on the cutting 
properties of coke, 268 

National Assembly of France, how 
the voting in it is proposed to be 
effected, 165 

Navigation, steam, on the Caspian, 
118 

Neptune, the planet, 329, 358, 
381 

Newark cottage-range, Nichol- 
son's, 73 

Newton's improvements in au- 
gers, 142 

Niagara, suspension-bridge, 332 

Nicholson's Newark cottage range, 
73 

Non-recoil principle of mounting 
ordnance, 634 

Norniunville's patent improve- 
ments in the axle boxes of rail- 
way carriages, 463, 645 

Numbers, the higher powers of, 
on the idea of form attached to, 
200. 244 

Nuii.ber and form, relation be- 
tween, 326, 337 



Ocean, arctic, temperature of, 187 

Qils, Mr. C. P. Mantfidd'b patent 
improvements in the manufac- 
ture and purification of, 43 

Ordnance, on mounting on the 
non-rt'coil principle, 634 

Ores, alloys of, new method of ex- 
tracting gold from, 489 

copper. Penny's patent im- 
provements in obtaining copper 
from, 549 

Organic matters in aqueous solu- 
tions, test for, 498 

Orsi's patent improvements in 
artificial stone, cements, orna- 
mental tiles, bricks and quarries, 
.108 

Qj-hurn's steam plough, 498 

Oval of live centres, on the con- 
struction of, 424 

Oxalic acid, I>aming's patent im- 
provements in, 475 

Oxide of zinc, Rochaz's patent im- 
provcmei)t8 in the manufacture 
of, 286 



P»ckiog, metallic iteani Ugia, 

Baries's patent, 433, 451, 457, 

481. 516 
Painting, electro, Dr. Branson's 

mode of, 41 
Papier inacb6, Brindley's patent 

improvementa, in 5/3 
Paratmlic propeller, Hodg»on'«, 

in Holland, 130 
Parliament; the bouses of, 175 
PaAseogers time signal for ^'ail- 

way stations, 21 
Patent law cases (English) : The 

vood paving patents — Hulse 

and others r. Esdale and others, 

JO; sawing machinery, Crown v. 

Smith, 590 
Patent Laws — New act for reform 

of Petty Bag and enrolment 

offices, 260 Supplement to 

Webster's Law and Practice of 

Letters Patent for Inven- 
tions (Review), 333: French, 

454 
Patents— New English, 22, 46, 70, 

94. lis. 142, 166, 191, 215, 238, 

263, 287. 311, 335, 359, 383, 407, 

431, 455, 479, 503, 526, 550, 574, 

6C0, 622, 647 
recent American, 31, 142, 

453,476 
Paul's patent excavator, 823 
Pa)'ne'spatent process of rendering 

wood fireproof, 140 
Peat fuel, Rogers's patent, 572 
Penny's patent improvements in 

obtaining cupper from copper 

ores, 549 
Pentonvllle Model Prison, system 

of warming and ventilating 

adopted at. 25, 62 
Periodicals, Mathematical, contri- 
butions to tbe history of, 5, 203, 

303, 369, 437, 523 
Petty Bag Office, new Act for the 

reform of, 260 
Philosophy, Natural, Tomlinson's 

treatise on (review), 567 

and poverty, 602 

Photographic (coloured) image of 

the solar spectrum, 213 
Piers and breakwaters, Bruce*^ 

patent method of constructing, 

97 
Fipe, water gauge, Lapointe's, 

320 
Rontree and Brown's 

union screw joint for, 465 

glass, 450, 546 

Piston %'alve, Hutchinson's, 493 
Pitter, J. Esq.; mechanical truths, 

logical falsehoods, 400 
Planet Neptune. 329, 358, 381 
Plates, metal, Turton's patent im- 
provements in bending into car 

riage springs, 570 
Platform weighing machine, Al- 

llott's patent, 409 
Plough, steam, Osborne's, 408 
Plus and minus, on the signs of, 

417,589,611 
Plymouth breakwater, 342 
Pneumatic springs for railroad 

cars, Levrb's improvement in, 

31 
Poncclet. Piobcrt, and Morin's re- 

ptjft on Lapointe's \Yater gauge 

pipe, 320 
Poole's patent improvements in 

propelling, 547 
Population, problem respecting the 

law of, 588 



INDEX. 

Portland cement, tbe new, S25 
Portsmouth dockyard, floatlrig 

caissoongale in, 441 
Potato disease, 284 
Power, motive; employment of 

electro magnetism as, 186 ; 

Price's patent improvements in 

obtaining and applying, 500; 

Darlu's patent improvements in 

obtaining, 547 
Preserving animal products, 

Louis's patent, 525 
Press, another step in the progress 

of the, 190 
, printing, fast American, 

193 
of English 

origin, 237, 271 
hand, Harrild and 

Son's, 468 



of the •• Times" 
and " Dispatch," 644 

Pressure of the earth against re- 
vctement walls, Investigation of, 
466. 524 

Price's patent improvements in ob- 
taining and applying motive 
power, 500 

Printing press, fast American, 193 
, of English 



origin, 237,271 

• hand. 



Son's, 468 



Harrild and 



■ of the •! Times" 
and " Dispatch," 644 

carpets. Wood's patent 

improvements in, 550 

Prints, how to obtain from seals, 
coins, or medals, 132 

Prison, model, at Pentonville, sys- 
tem of warming and ventilating 
adopted at, 25, 62 

Prizes and medals awarded for 
agricultural implements at the 
Royal Agricultural Society's ex- 
hibition at York, 69 

Professorships, the Gresham, 38, 
64, 89, 114, 122, 166, 190, 211 

Propeller, Hodgson's, parabolic, in 
Holland, 130 

quarter. Captain Carpen- 
ter's, 222 

self-acting stern, Mauds- 
lay's patent, 241 

Bcale's patent " bird's 

wing," 599 

Propelling, Selligue's patent im- 
provements in, 472 

• , Poole's patent im- 
provements in, 547 

Protest, Sir Howard Douclaa's, 
368,427,469,515 

Pump, portable, Deane, Dray, and 
Deane's,75, 118 

, fountain, Shalder's, 559 

, engine, Gossage's, 560 



Quarries, ornamental, Orsi's patent 
improvements in, 308 

Quarter propellers, Captain Car- 
penter's, 222 

Quicksilver superseded in mining, 
118 



R&dley, Mr. W.. C.E. ( inquiries 
m to the remarkable accident at 
the blast furnace, Mertbyr Tyd- 
vil, 466 



Railroad cars, Lewis's improve- 
ment in pneumatic springs tor, 
31 

Rail straightening machine, 
Dodd's, 12 

, under lap jointed, Gordon's 

patent, 420 

Railways : passenger time signal, 
21 ; chair-pin pressing machine, 
Harrison's, 32 ;Sparks'8 dispatch 
and cash- box, 81 ; Kane's wheels, 
141; Forsyth's patent, 390; 
Green and Newman's patent 
method of attaching tyres, 391; 
Madigan and Haddan's patent, 
391 ; Gardner's, 476 : Attwoods, 
477; Whitney's, 478, Lathrop's 
corrugated wheels, 663—573 ; 
cheap, for India, 250 ; extinction 
of flres in trains, 342 ; Cunning- 
ham and Carter's patent signal 
apparatus, 348; carriages and 
wagons, Henson's patent, 385 ; 
Normanville's patent,453 ; Hard- 
ing's; safety additions, .'•34 ; Tur- 
ton's patent improvements in 
bending metal plates into 
springs, 570; Mansell's patent, 
5/1 ; rival claims of W. James 
and G. Stephenson, 401—500; 
" Pioneer," death, and claim# 
of Thomas Gray to the title of, 
404 ; Gordon's patent improve- 
ments in, 420, 474; elements of 
rating concisely stated, 438; 
Grout's brakes, 476 ; application 
of electric light, 523 ; for moun- 
tainous districts, 612 

Range, cottage, Nicholson's, New- 
ark, 73 

Rathen's, Baron von, com • 
pressed air locomotive, 61; first 
trial of on common roads, 165, 
186 

Rating, railway, elements of con- 
cisely stated, 438 

Razor blade, Thoinhill's, 180 

Recreations, mathematical, sim- 
plified, 462. 498 

Reform, at Cambridge, 449, 485 

nefuge Harbour, Dover, and Sir 
Simuel Bentham's mode of con- 
structing se.vwalls, 33 

, plans for 

the improvement of, 344 

, for Ireland, 436 



Registered designs for articles of 
utility, 22, -16, 71, 94, 119, 143, 
167, 191,215, 238, 263,287,311, 
335, 359, 383, 407. 430, 455, 479, 
603. 527, 551, 574, COO, 623, 
647 

Regulators, steam boiler, Alliott's 
patent, 337 ; Baddeley's and 
Moy '8,397,451,465 

Reid's patent gutta percha electric 
insulators, 339 

Remmington's, Mr. J. R., patent 
improvements in roasting coffee, 
31 

New bridge for Earl 



Talbot, at Shirley wich, 133, 
161 

and Whitton's far- 



mers and graziers' portable mill, 

60S 
^ Mr. George, patent 

improvements in steam engines, 

548.612 
Revetement walls, pressure of the 

earth against, investigation of, 

466, 524 



VIU 

Riclianlson'i patent improTementa 
in the manufacture of manurea, 
547 

Rigging shipi, mechanical prin- 
ciples of, 582 

Rishton's vinery flrame, 6 

Roberta't new element in mecha- 
nics, 186. 255 

Robertson's patent improvements 
in the manufacture of textile 
fiibrics, 93 

Rochaz's patent Improvements in 
the manufacture of oxide of 
zinc, 286 

Rock, Mr. J.,Jun.; mechanical 
truths, logical falsehooda, 422 

Rogers'a patent peat lUel and ma- 
nure, 572 

Roller, eccentric, Mr. W. B. John- 
son's, S5 

, mm, Stanley's, 601 

Rontree and Brown's screw union 
Joint for water-pipes, 465 

Roose and Haden^s patent im- 
provementa in tubing, 622 

Rope, wire, enormous, 190 

Rowan's fluctuating steam-engine 
slider, 373 

Royal Society, the, 507; its de- 
Iknlters, 602 

Russell, Mr. J. Scott ; lecture on 
the wave principle in ship- 
building, 11 ; progress of ' 
ship building, 210 



Saccharometer, Jennings's, 258 

Sackholders, Cooch's patent im- 
provements in, 524 

Safety gun-lock, 466, 515 

— , valve, improved, 513 

— , Cole's patent, 529 

Salt water and fresh, 215 

Baiter's patent water-diatributiag 
cart and self-acting drain-flusli- 1 
ing apparatus, 505, 540 , 

Balls, Crane and Jullion'a patent 
improvementa in the manufac- ' 
ture of, 42 \ 

— — , Hunt's patent improvementa 
in manufacturing, 599 

Sanitary reform v. the inaanity of 
science, 160 

, measurea, 413, 444, 

609 

Sankey, W. H. V., Esq., C. E. ; 
railwaya for mountainous dia- 
tricU, 617 

Sargent'a improvementa iu wool- 
combing, 142 

Sawing, circular, experiment In, 
18 

— , wood, Barber'a patent im- 
provements in, 571 

, machinery, CroTrn 
v. Smith (patent law case,) 
590 

, milla. Note on Sir S. Ben 

tham'a introduction of into 
England, 591 

Screen, meat, Hufsey'a portable, 
222 

Screw, the, 190 

, cutting machine, new, 21 

, union Joint for water pipes, 

Rontree and Brown's, 465 

Screws, wood, Wipple's improve- 
ments in cutting the threads on, 

Sculpture, method of bringing out 

in alabaster, SO 
tJca, the, motion of, Hi 



INDEX. 

Sea walls, should they be sloping 
or vertical? 76, 129, 136, 154, 
181, 196, 201, 233, 254, 282, 286, 
328, 342, 368, 399, 426. 445, 469, 
515, 537. 559, 586 ; on the eflfecta 
of superincumbent pressure, 9 ; 
Sir S. Bentham's mode of con- 
structing, 33; Mr. Robert Ste- 
phenson^s opinion, 137; new 
form of constructing, 253; at 
Sheemess dockyard, 278 ; collar 
tend uses to which they may be 
applied, 461 ; Sir Howard Doug- 
lasS protest, 368, 427, 469, 515, 
537 

Beaton's patent improvements in 
closing tubes, and in preventing 
and removing incrustations in 
boUers, 549 

Seliigue's patent improvements in 
propelling, 472 

Sewers, trapping and ventilating 
of, 413 

Shalder's fountain-pump, 559 

Sharp, Mr. W. ; design for a ro- 
tary steam-engine, 37; construc- 
tion of sea-walls, 129 

Shears, prodigious pair of, 190 

Sheep-washing, Dr. Alban's new 
mode of, 179 

Sheemess dockyard, the sea-walls 
at. 278 

Shells, concussion, 190 

, firing by electricity, 298 

Ship-buliding, wave principle in, 
II 

, steam, progress of, 

210 

— , employment of iron 

in, 359 

Ships' bottoms, coating of, 214 

, mechanical principle of build- 
ing, rigging, and equipping, 582 

ventilation of, 606 

Shirley wich, new bridge at, for 
Earl Talbot, by Mr. J. R. Rem- 
ington, 133. 16 i 

Show-carda, Stocker's patent, 474 

Sbuldam's, (Commander. R.N.), 
improved diving-bell, 219 

Signal, time, public passenger, for 
rniiway stations, 21 

apparatus,^ railway, Cun- 



ningham and Carter's patent, 
348 
Si.<;ns, plus and minus, 417 
Silk, Foot's patent improvements 

in making skeins of, 597 
Slider, steam-engine, Rowau'a 

fluctuating, 373 
Sloggett, W. Esq., on deviation of 
falling bodies from the perpen- 
dicular, 13 
Sluice-gates, long hinges for, 178 

, self-acting, 86, 237 

Smith, T. Esq. C.E. ; on self-acting 
sluices, 86, 237 ; on sea-walls, 
155, 181, 201, 282, 286. 399; on 
th^ construction of the oval of 
five ccntrea, 424 
Smiths' portable forge. Brown and 
Redpath's, 94 

Mark, patent improve- 



menta in looma, 501 

Society, Royal, the, 607; its de- 
faulters, 602 

Socket-Joints, vulcanised India- 
rubber, 612 

Solar spectrum, the coloured pho- 
tographic image of, 213 

Solidifying milk, Louis'a patent 
metliod of, 525 



Solomons and Axulay's potent im- 
provements in the mannfartnie 
of gas, tar, charcoal, and aclda. 

Solutions, aqueous, test for eiganic 

matters in, 498 
Sound, diffusion of, 218, 268, 447 
Sowing-machines, Hartes* patent. 

Spark-extinguisher, GIbion'a, 477 

Sparke's railway despatch and 
cash-box, 81 

Speaking-trumpet, 210 

Spectrum, aolar, the coloured pho- 
tographic image on the, 213 

Spike's, Captain, mode of raising 
sunken vessels, 17 

Spinning, M'Lardy and Lewfs'a 
patent improvements In, 475 

Spirituous substances, Mr. C. P. 
Mansfleld's patent improve- 
ments in the manufhcture and 
purification of, 43 

Spontaneoua combustion, 21 

Spring holdfaat for window saahes, 
Tibbet'a, 80 

Springs, pneumatic, for railroad 
cars, Lewis's improvement in, 31 

, Turton's patent improve- 
ments in the manu&cture of,570 

Stack protector. White's, 272 

Suite's electric light, 382, 522, 546, 
611 

SUnley's roller-mill, 001 

Steam-boilers: Dr. Alban's im- 

? roved, 49; Howe's water-gauge, 
5; Earl of Dundonald^a pa- 
tent improvement!!, 183; Al- 
liott's patent apparatus for 
regulating the working of, 337; 
mode of regulating the supply of 
water to, 397, 451 ; Valentine's 
improvements in, 453; Badde- 
ley and Moy's regulators, 465; 
incrustations in, 475; Beaton's 
patent improvements for pre- 
venting and removing incrusta- 
tions, 549; Beale's patent me- 
thod of preventing incrustations, 
599 
Steam-engines, Humphry's patent 
improvements, 36 ; Sharp's ro- 
tary, 37; Bourne's strictures 
on the Cornish engine, 135; 
Dunham's expansion-Joint for, 
142; Galvani's improvementa, 
142; M'Conochie and Claude'a 
patent locomotive, 289, 313; 
Tredgold's Treatise, 333 ; Cole's 
patent high-pressure and expan- 
sion double cylinder twam, 361, 
and patent safety-valve, 529 ; 
Rowan fioctnating slider, 373; 
Davles's patent rotary, 433, 451, 
457, 481, 616; Baldwin's loco- 
motive. 454 ; Report of the 
Franklin Institute on the ex- 
plosion of a stationary en- 
gine, 470 ; Remington's patent 
improvements, 548, 612; Dr. 
Laidner's Treatise on (review), 
566 ; Want and Vernum'a patent 
oscillating, 577; Beale's patent 
rotary, 599; Johnson's patent 
locomotive, 625 

-, eflfteta of, meteoro- 



logically considered, 284 
Steam hammer, Condie'a patent, 

330 

plough, Oaborn's, 498 

ship building, progress of, 

210 



Stesm, tight packing, metallic, 
DaTies's patent, 433, 451, 457, 
4S1 
— ' " Talvea, Grame'i Improve- 
ment in, 142 

, Stevena'<, 478 

, fplston, Hutchin- 

aon'a, 496 

— , Gregory's, 518 
Steam vetsels, speed of, with 
- English made engines, 190 

" , "Auckland," 451 

1 " Scotia," 100 

, " Vladimir," 357 

Sreel, iron, and sheet Iron, method 

of welding, SO 
Stephenson, MifGcorge, death of, 
190 

■, and Mr. William 

James, rival claims of, 401, 500 
. Mr. Robert, on ver- 



tical sra walls. 137 
Sterenson's, Mr. T., experiments 

on the lateral force of waves, 

538 
Stern propeller, self-acting, Maads- 

lay's patent, 241 
Stevens s steam-engine valves, 478 
Stocker's patent time teachers, 

boxes, and show cards, 474 
Stoilhefg, cine works at, 559 
Stooe bnlwarks, elasticity of, 612 
Storing timber, by Sir S. Bentham, 

531 
Stiengtli of materials, 639 
Studies, geometrical and algebrai- 
cal, 628 
Sunken vesse1s,Capt. Spike's mode 

of raising, 17 
Sold equations, congeneric. By 

Professor Young, 462 
Survey, general of the kingdom, 

auggestions subsidiary to, 448 
Suspension bridge, Niagara, 332 
footbridge, Mr. Dredge's, 

S50 
Swansea, the British Association 

at. 186 
Syntbelic division, 111 
Syphon, Doaglass', 476 

Tar, Solomons and Azulay's patent 

improvements in, 547 
Taylor's patent improvements in 

metal tubes, 525 
Telegraph. (See Electro-Tele- 

Telakouphanon, or speaking trum- 
pet. 210 

Telescopes, 621 

Temperature of the Arctic ocean, 
167 

Teat for organic matters in aqueous 
solutions, 49S 

Textile fabrics, Robertson's patent 
improvements in the manufac- 
ture of, 93 

Thomas and Dellisse's liquid for 
cleansing metals, 454; the spe- 
cification, 583 

Tlunnson, J. J., Jun., Esq., on the 
strength of materials, 639 

Threads, Whipple's improvements 
in cuttings on wood screws, 454 

ThomhiU's rasor blade. 180 

Ttbbit's spring holdfast for window 
sashes, 80 

Tiles, omamental,Orsi'8 patent im- 
provements in, 308 

Timber, Sir Samuel Bentbam, on 
the storing of, 531 

Time-signal, passengers, for rail- 
wny stations, 21 



INDEX. 

I Time tearhsri, Stocker's patent, 
I 474 

"Times'" monster press, 644 

Tomliuiton's treatise on natural 
philosophy (review), 567 

Tottie's patent improvements in 
distillation, 182 

Trap, self-acting effluvia, Bun- 
uett's, 441 

Trapping aud ventilating of sewers, 
413 

Travers's patent improvement in 
cutting cork, 142 

Tredgold. on the steam-engine 
(review), 333 

Trenails, improvements suggested 
in, 306 

Trumpet, speaking, 210 

Trussing girders, Dredge's im- 
proved mode of, 112 

Tubes, welded lap iron, Cutler's 
patent, 54 

, metal, Taylor's patent, 525 

■ , Seaton's patent im- 
provements in closing, 549 

Roose and Haden's 



patent improvements in, 612 

, glass, 546 

Tubular bridges, the inventor of, 
21 

Turton's patent improvements in 
bending metal plates into car- 
riage springs, 570 

Tyler's water closet, 609 

Tyres, Green and Newman's pa- 
tent method of attaching, to rail- 1 
way wheels, 391 

Union screw joint for water pipes, ; 
Rontree and Brown's, 465 i 

Ure, Dr.; maladministration of 
the customs, and Jennings sac- 
charometer, 258 

Utility, articles of. registered de- 
signs for, 22, 46, 71, 94, 119, 143, > 
167, 191, 215. 238, 262, 287, 311, ; 
335, 359, 3S3, 407, 430, 455, 479, 
503,527,551,574,600,623,647 { 

Valentine's improvements In steam 

boilers, 453 
Valves, steam, Grames', 142 

, Stevens's, 478 | 

•, piston, Hutchin- 



son's, 493 



-, Gregory's, 513 

-, Coles's patent safety, 



529 
, hydraulic, Harvey and 

West's, 187 
of Walker's hydraulic en- 
gine, 234 
Vehicles, railway and common 

road, Mansell's patent, 571 
Venetian glass weights, 42 
Vessels, sunken, CapUin Spike's 

mode of raising, 17 
, Sir Samuel Bentham 

on the means of fastening the 

component parts of, together, 

150, 171 
Ventilating and warming system 

adopted at the model prison, 

Pentotiville, 25, 62 

-, the Hookah system of, 



307 



'^— , ships, 606 
-— , coal mines, Mr. Gur- 



ney's plan for, 633 
Vinery frame, Rishton's, 8 
*' Vladimir" Russian steam fMgate, 

357 



IX 

Vou Rathen's compressed air loco- 
motive, 61; fir«t trial of, on 
common roads, IG5, 186 

Votes, Chamberlain's patent appa- 
ratus for recording, at elections, 
598 

Voting in the National Assembly 
in France, how it is proposed to 
be managed, 165 

Vulcanized India rubber socket 
Joints, 617 

Wagons, railway, Henson's pa- 
tent, 3S5 

Walker's patent hydraulic engine, 
54, 145, 2S3 

patent improvements in 

hat-bands, f 46 

Wallace'*, Miss, patent improve- 
ments in the decorative arts, 224 

Wall revetement, pressure of the 
earth against, investigation of, 
466, 524 

, sea, should they be sloping 

or vertical? 76. 129, 188. 154, 
181, 196, 201, 233, 254. 282, 286, 
528, 342, 368, 399, 426. 445, 469, 
515, 5.S7, 5i')9, 588 ; on the eliects 
of superincumbent pressure, 9 ; 
Sir S. Bentham's mode of 
constructing, 8:? ; Mr. Robert 
Stephenson's opinion, 137; new 
form of constructing, 253; at 
Shecrness dockyard, 278; Sir 
Howard Douglas's Protest, 3uS, 
427, 469, 515, 537; collateral 
uses to wliich they may be ap- 
plied, 461 

Want and Vernum's patent oscil- 
lating steam engine, 577 

Warming and ventilating system 
at the model prison, Pentonville, 
25,62 

Water gauge, steam-boiler, Howe'ij, 
75 

, on the application of, to dif- 
ferent kinds of fuel, 140 

, salt and fresh, 215 

, gauge pipe, Lepointe's, 320 

, mode of regulating the sup- 
ply of, to steam boilers, 3U7, 4.') I 

pipes, Rontree and Brown's 

union screw joint for, 465 

wheel. Boy den's, 476 

pressure engine, Armstrong's 

patent, 501 

distributing cart, Salter's pa- 
tent, 505 

c'oset, Tyler's, 609 

Watson and Cart's patent improve- 
ments in the manufacture of gas, 
179 

Wave principle in ship building, 
by Mr. Scott Russell, 11 

Waves, Mr. Stevenson's experi- 
ments on the lateral force of, by 
Mr. Dredge, 538, 613 

Weale's Rudimentary Treatises on 
the arts and sciences ; Dr. Lard- 
ner's steam -engine ; Tomlinsou's 
Natural Philosophy ; Leeds's 
Architecture, 566 

Weaving carpets, Wood's patent 
improvements in, 550 

Webb and Maltby's patent im- 
provements in distillation, 18 

Webster's " Law and Practice of 
Letters Patent for Inventions," 
Supplement to (review) 3'J3j 

Weighing machine platform, Al- 
liott's patent, 409 

Weights, decimal, Arthur's, 35 
Vcnct»an j;la»s, 42 



Welding iron, steel, and iheet- 

iron, SO 
Westhead's patent fur fabrics, 598 
Westou Supennare Pier Companx 
and Mr. Dredge, 561 

Wheels , railway ; Kane's im- 
provement, 142; Forsyth's pa- 
tent, S90 ; Green and Newman's 
patentmethod of attaching tyres, 
!i9l ; Madigan and Uaddan's pa- 
tent, 391; Gardner's, 476; Att- 
twood's, 477; Whitney's, 478; 
Lathrop's patent corrugated, 563 
673 

-, water, Boyden's, 476 

Whipple 's improvements in cut- 
ting the threads on wood screws, 
454 

Whishaw, Francis, Esq..; manu- 
factures of gutta percha, 209; 
telakouphanon, or speaking- 
tnunper, 210; application of 
gutta percha to electric insula- 1 
tlon, 309 ' 

White, J. Esq., C.E. ; experiments , 
in circular sawing, 18 ' 

, method of I 

cutting drains for laying pipes , 
or tiles, 276 

stack protector, 272 | 

Whitney's railway wheels, 478 



INDEX. 

Wicksteed and Aitkin's report on 
the vulcanized India-rubber 
socket joints, 617 

Wilkinson, Thomas, Esq. ; contri- 
butions to the history of mathe- 
matical periodicals. 5, 203, 303, 
367,437, 523 : synthetic division, 
111; geometrical proposition 
and demonstration, 137; memoir 
of John Butterworth, 377 ; on i 
the signs plus and minus, 611 I 

Wind-guaids, Day's improved, 217 , 

Window-sashes, Tibbet's spring 
holdfasts for, 80 

Wire rope, enormous, 190 ! 

, coating of with gutta percha, , 

272, 309, 310, 339, 380, 398, ! 
406 

Witty, Mr. Richard, death of, ' 
190 i 

Wood paving patents, Hulse and | 
others v. Esdale and others, ' 
patent law case, 20 

, Payne's process of rendering I 

fire-proof, 140 I 

, sawing, Barber's patent for, 

571 ; 

sawing machinery. Crown v. 

Smith, patent law case, 590 , 

Wood's, Mr. Joseph, chronometrlc 

governor, 118 



Wood's, W., patent imnroTement« 
in weaving and printing carpets, 
550 

Wool-combing, Sargent's improve- 
ment in, 142 

WooUgar, J. W., Esq., F.R.S.A.; 
elements of railway rating con- 
cisely stated, 438 

Working classes, model lodging- 
houses for, letter to Lord Ashley 
on, 54 

Wrighton's patent axle-box, 645 

Yams, cotton, Hague and Frith's 
patent improvements in twisting 
and doubling, 649 

Young, Professor, on some pro- 
perties of binomial co-efficients, 
270 ; theorem of Leibnitz, 324 ; 
congeneric surd equations, 46S ; 
problem respecting the law of 
population, 588 

Yule, Lieut.-Col; R. £., on break- 
waters composed of vertical 
floats, 1 

Zinc, oxide of, Rochaz's patent 
improvements in the manufac- 
ture of, 286 

, Works at Slollberg, 559 

ZoUickoffer's improvements in 
tauuing leatlicr, 454 



ERRATA. 

Page 819, col. 1, line 48, for ' is not free, read ' is yet free.' 
337, col. 1, line 18, for ' exploded ' read ' explored.' 
393, col. 2, line 9, for ' O ' read ' O .' 

3 
628, col. 2, line 17, for ' That a elear ' read ' That clear. 
631, line 21, omit the minus sign before 80m. 



631 line 29, in the bracket, for i' 






-!»• 



ALPHABETICAL LIST OF NEW PATENTS GRANTED FOR 
ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, AND IRELAND. 



Name. 

Abbey j 

Adams 

Adami 

Alliott 

Allman 

Anderson.. .. -< 

Archer 

Archer 

Armstrong • . • • 
Armstrong .... 
Assert 

Ashby { 

Atken 

Bacchoffher .... 

B»Uey } 

Baird 

Baker & ano. . i 

Bakewall 

Balfour 

Barber 

Barber 

Beardmore .. -j 

Beattie 

Beauregard .... 

BeU 

Bergne, De .... 

Benemer 

BetheU 

Beniowski 

Biddle 

Bramwell & ano. 

Bright 

Brooman 

Brown 

Browne 

Brown 

Barleigh 

Bam 

Barrows & ano j 



Subject. 

Preser?ing liquids andl 
matters in vessels .. . J 

Mills 

Carriages 

Steam boilers 

Electric light 

Separating the different 1 
qualities of yegetables. / 

Production of light .... 

Dividiog paper 

Water dosets 

Steam engines 

Motive power 

Cleaning grain & dress- 1 
iog meal J 

Steam engines 

Communication 

Preparing and combing 1 

wool, &c J 

Communication 

Wheels, turn-tables, & 1 

axles J 

Electro telegraphy 

Metal washers & buffers.. 

Sawing wood 

Decorating. ........... 

Wall, piers, and break- 1 

waters J 

Air spring 

Generating steam 

Aerial machines 

Bridges, girders, & beams, 

Glass 

Preserving substances ... 

Printing 

Gas burners 

Feeding furnaces 

Lamps 

Hinges 

Elastic fabrics 

Fire escapes 

Manures 

Light and heat 

Roller-gin 

Steam engines, boilers, 1 

and flues j 



England. 

29 July 
16 Nov. 

28 Sep. 

11 Nov. 

24 June 
2$ Nov. 

2 Dec. 

2 Dec. 
19 Oct. 

12 Oct. 



4 Nov. 

5 Oct. 

21 Dec. 

2 Dec. 
16 Nov. 

3 July 

6 July 

11 July 
23 Nov. 

12 Oct. 

21 Aug. 

2'Nov. 
23>rov. 

2 Nov. 

2 Nov. 
26 Oct. 
11 Nov. 

2'Deij. 
26 Oct. 



Scotland. Ireland 



8 Aug. 
11 Sept. 



30 Oct. 

8 May 

31 May 

16 May 



24 May 

26 May 



29 June 
31 July 



6 Nov. 
8 May 
22 April 



16 June 
6 July 



7 Aug. 



Page. 



142 
503 

335 

503 

22 
527 
574 
674 
407 

383 



478 
359 

622 

574 

503 



46 

46 

70 

426 

383 

215 

455 
527 
454 
454 
431 
503 



574 
431 



Xll 



ALPIIABlil'lCAL LIST OF NEW PATENTS. 



Name. 



Campbell.. 
Cartwright 
Castelain . . 
Chowne .. 
Chrees .... 



Churcb &ano. 

Cluuseen 

Clement 

Clark 

Clark 

Clay 

Clinton 

Coad 

Cole 



Collins . 



Cooch.. 
Cooper. . 
CroU .. 
Cuilen . . 
Curtain 



Dakin 

Dalton 

Ddvies & ano.. 

Daviei 

Dawson . . . . . 
Delarue . . . . < 

Deeley 

Dench ...... 

Dickins .... 

Dickinson . . 
Donisthorpe. . 
Drayton .... 

Duley 



Dunn 

Dunn 
Dunt 



Subject. 



Mills 

Brace 

Soap 

Ventilation 

Sealiog wax 

Card and paper making } 
machinery 3 

Weaving 

Sugar 

Gas burners and lamps . . 

Boots, shoes, and clogs . . 

Rolling metals 

Flutes^ 

Furnaces 

Steam engines . . 

Compounds for pre 
venting injury 
health 

Sack-holders .. .. , 

Dress fastenings . 

Gas 

Steering 

Carpets 



'rV.V 

.'rl 



Coffee 

Fringes 

Steam engines 

Steam engines 

Musical instruments .... 

Ornamental surfaces .... 

Ovens and furnaces .... 

Roofing 

Warping and beaming . . 

Looms 

Roving and spinning. . . . 

Silvering glass 

Stoves 

Ascertaining & indica-l 
ting the temperature > 
and j.ressurc of fluids J 

Wheels 

Metals 



England. 



Eccles & ano.. . . Looms 
Emmott Furnaces 



Fairbairn . 



•■•{ 



Fontainemoreau, 
Fontainemoreau . 
Fontainemoreau. 



Forsyth Wheels 



Ueckling,card{ng,draw- ' 
ing, roving, ami 
spinning ^ 

Fatty bodies 

Tubes and pipes 

Hygienic apparatus . . . 



Frearson Shaping metals 



Galloway & ano. 

Gardner 

Gill 

Gillott & ano... 
Gordon 



Steam engines 

Girders 

Manures 

Ornamenting . . 
Railways 



16 Dec. 
1 July 
28 Dec. 
29 Aug. 

26 Oct. 

2rNov. 
26 June 
26 Oct. 
16 Dec. 
16 Dec. 
9 Nov. 



2 Dec. 

10 Aug. 
4 Nov. 

22 Aug. 
18 Nov. 
16 Dec. 

3 July 
2'Dec. 

2Nov. 

15 Aug. 

16 Dec. 
26 Aug. 
21 Dec. 

11 Sept. 

2 Dec. 
2 Dec. 

12 Oct. 



15 Dec. 

26 oa. 

25 Nov. 

21 Dec. 

21 Sept. 

17 Aug. 
9 Dec. 

I 2S Sept. 



Scotland. 



8 Sept. 



8 May 



6 Oct. 
25 Oct. 



Ireland. 



Page. 



31 Aug. I 

29 June I 

.... I 

31 Oct. I 



10 



Aug. 



7 Sept. 
5 Sept. 

28 July 

30 Oct. 

26 June 
l2Mav 



15 Nov. 
7 June 



11 Nov. 



622 

70 

6J7 

238 

431 



526 

22 

431 

622 
622 
478 



574 

167 
478 
215 
526 
622 

46 

574 

454 
191 

622 
238 
622 
287 

574 

574 

383 



622 

431 
550 
622 
311 

191 

600 

335 



ALrHABKTICAL LIST OF NRW I'ATIIKTS. 



XIU 



Name. 



Goncher •• .. . 

Green & New- 1 



Greeostreet . 
Grist 



Hatley 

HiUiday .... 
Hancock, Chaa. 
Hancock tTbos 1 

& ano j 

Haodoock .... 

Hart i 



Harris 

Heath 

Heaton 

Henderson... i 

Henley & ano. •< 

Henson 

Hewitt 

Highton St ano. 

Hills 

Hjorth 

Hohn 

Hollands & ano. 

Howe 

Hunt 



Snbjeot. 



lies 



Jscobs • . 
Jobson. . 
Johnson . 
Jukes . . . 



Kempton 

Keiselmeyer&l 



King & ano. 
Kinsman . . . 
Kirtlej 

Knowlys . . . 
Knowlys . . . 

Lamb & ano. 

Lane & ano, 



Lathrop 
Lee .. .. 
Lees.... 



Lemanande . 
LeMolt.... 
Lealie , 



Thrashing machines 
Wheels 



England. | Scotland. | Ireland. 



. ' 25 Nov. 

J .... 



4 



Hydraulic engines 2 Dec. 

Furnaces ..| 29 July 



Spinning 

Fyroligneons acid 

Shaping plastic substances 
Gutta percha and caout- \ 

chonc j' 

Propelling 

Bricks and moulding 1 

machinery J 

Type founding 

Friction brakes 

Locomotive engines .... 
Cleansing and polishing \ 

grain J 

Telegraphic communi- 1 i 

cations j 

Railway carriages 

Railways 

Electro telegraphy 

Salts, gases, or vapours. . 
Electro-magnetism .... 

Printing 

Artificial fuel 

Ship-building • • . . . 

MetaU 



Dress fastenings. 



Stamping fabrics . 

Stoves 

Steam engines . . . 
Furnaces 



Reflectors and lighting . . 

Velvets } 

Gas meters 

Rotary engines 

Railway wheels 

Application of atmo- 1 

spheric air J 

Generating and apply* \ 

ing heat j 



Steam engines 

£ngines,boiIers,pumps, 
propelling boats, ex- 
tinguishing fires, and 
brewing , 

Railway wheels 

Ornamental designs . . . 

Malleable iron 

Piling metal letters on 
glass, &c • 

Electric lighting 

Purifying and cooling 1 I 
liquids and gases . . . j 



11 Dec. 

28 Sept. 

29 July 



12 Oct. 

2 Nov. 
2 Nov. 

14 Aug. 

10 Aug. 

11 Aig. 

19* Oct. 
26 Oct. 
21 Dec. 
4 Sept. 

24 June 

4 Not. 

2 Nov. 
28 Deo. 

18 Nov. 

7 Nov. 

2 Nov. 

26 July 
28 Dec. 
11 July 

2 Nov. 



14 Nov. 

10 Oct. 

2 May 



18 July 
12 May 



21 Aug. 
31 July 



7 Sept. 
12 May 



9 Dec. 

29 Nov. 

llDec. 

8 Aug. 

18 July 

20 July 

21 Sopt. 



15 Aug. 

14 Nov. 
6 Nov. 



7 June 
18 Aug. 

7 Sept. 



8 Nov. 



6 July 



Pagf*. 



550 



574 
119 

600 
335 
119 



383 
454 
454 

191 
167 

191 

407 
431 
622 
263 

22 

478 

455 

647 

64 

520 

478 

454 

119 

647 

70 

455 



600 
550 



600 
167 

94 

118 

311 



I 



XIV 



ALPHABETICAL LIST OF NEW PATENTS. 



Name. 

Lister 

Llewellen & ano. 

Lomax 

Longmaid 

Lorimier .... 4 

LoBh 

Low 

Low. 

MacDoQgall & 1 

ano J 

MacDongall ... 
Mackenzie .... 
Mackintosh .... 

Madigan 

Madigaii & ano. 

Major 

Marsden 

Martin 

Massey i 

Masters < 

Metcalf & ano. . 
Metcalf.Thos... 

Miller 

Mitchelfie ano.. 

Morse 

Mowbray 

Napier & ano. -l 

Napier 

Napier 

Nasmy th ..... 

Newall I 

Newson 

Newton i 

Newton 

Newton 

Newton < 

Newton 

Newton 

Newton 

Nickels 

Nicholson 

Normanville ... 

Palmer 

Palmer 

Parkes &ano... 

Parkes 

Pattinson 

Pattison 

Paul &ano 



Subject. 



England. 



Seotland. 



Ireland. 



Page. 



Wool combing 

Cocks or Yalves 

Chaff- cutting machines . . 

Oxides of iron 

Gutta percha and caout- 1 

chouc J 

Steam engines 

Copper 

Smelting 



Adds 

Glue 

Jacquard machinery .... 

Motive power 

Turn-tables 

Wheels 

Looms 

Flax 

Flax, tow, &c 

Logs and sounding ap- 1 

paratuB j 

Aerating fluids, filters, 1 

bottles, &c J 

Spinning 

Chairs, sofas, &c 

Menattrite locomotion . . 

Smelting 

Printing surfaces 

Looped fabrics 



Mariners' compasses & \ 

barometers j 

Metals and alloys 

Melting copper 

Fireproof constructions. . 
Locks, springs, and 1 

ships' rigging J 

Trusses 

Stoves, grates, and fur- 1 { 

naces J i 

Letter-press printing. . . . { 

Casting types i 

Application of glass and *> ' 
glazed surfaces to ar- [ I 
chitectural and other ( , 
similar purposes .. . J | 

Dressing grain ' 

Steel 

Steam engines I 

Gloves I 

Compressing machinery. . i 
Carriages i 



19 Oct. 
23 Nov. 
29 Nov. 
26 Oct. 

10 July 

4 Sept. 

28 Dec. 
21 Nov. 



5 Aug. 
28 June 



16 Dec. 

6 July 
6 Oct. 

18 Nov. 

8 Aug. 

5 Oct. 

28 Dec. 

27 June 

20 July 

9 Nov. 

4 Sept. 

28 Sept. 

23 Nov. 

6 July 

18 July 
16 Dec. 

7 Aug. 

22 Aug. 
2 Nov. 

23 Dec. 
9 Dec. 

28 Sept. 



Threshing 10 July 



Candles . 

Metals 

Metils 

Lead 

Printing fabrics . 
Drain. cutting. . . 



9 Dec. 
11 Nov. 

22 Aug. 
2 Not. 



26 Sept. 
29 June 



18 May 



4 May 

5 Sept. 

si July 
14 July 



14 Oct. 



11 Oct. 



27 July [ 28 Oct. 

10 July I .... 
29 June ' .... 



26 July 



20 Nov. 



10 Oct. 
3 May 



21 June 

26 Sept. 
3 May 



26 Oct. 



407 
627 
550 
431 

70 

263 

647 

526 

166 
22 



622 

46 

359 

526 

167 
359 

647 

22 

118 
784 

263 

335 

526 

46 

94 
622 

166 

215 
454 
647 
600 
335 



70 
600 
503 

215 
454 



ALLPHABE1ICAL LIST OF NEW PATENTS. 



XV 



Name. 



I 



Subject. 



Peiiii 

Perlbaeh ... 
PMrie 

Picdotto . . . 

Poola 

Poole 

Poole 

Porritt 

Porter 

Porter .... 
Pratt 

Pamell. ... 

Remington , 
Ricardo .. , 

Richardson 
Riddle.... 



Roberta ... 

RobertaoB. 
Robertson . 
Robertson 

Rock 

Rogers.... 

Roof. 

Roas 

Rowley .... 

Rojoe .. .. 



Sager 

ScMele 

SchuBck 

Schwartz .... 
Scoffem .... 

Shaw 

Sievier 

Siemans .... 
Simpson & ano.. 
Skertchly.. .. 

Smith 

Smith 

Smith 

Sontham .... 
Spencer .... 
Spilsbury .... 

Staite 

Steel & ano... 
Steinkamp . . 
Stenson ..... 

Sterling .... 

Swain 

Swiuburn.. .. 



England. 



^ 






17 Aug. 

8 Aug. 

7 Nov. 
28 Dec. 



2 Dec. 



Steam engines 21 Dec. 

Uniting metals • 

Steam engines 

Purifying and decolo- 
rizing gums 

Casks 

Nails 

Heels and pipes 

Carding 

Application of 
gated iron to floors 
roofs, &c. 

Girders .... 

Printing ink 

Preventing ships froml 
being water-logged .. J 

Steam engines 

Electro telegraphy 

Condensation and white l 
lead / 

Pencils, writing instru- 1 
ments, and inkholders j 

Time-keepers and tele- 
graphic communica 
tion 

Gas 

Casks 

Consuming smoke 

Iron 

Peat 

Respirators 

Dibbling and propelling.. 

Buttons 

Cleansing and grinding 1 
grain J 

Transit and generation ) 

of steam ) 

Cocks & reducing friction, 

Maleable iron 

Steam engines 

Sugar 

Iron 

Warping and weaving ... 

Steam engine 

Steam engines 

Bricks and tobacco pipes.. 
Railway wheels 
Coal tar ...... 

Window blinds & springs, 

Mills 

Pipes and tubes. . 

Paints 

Galvanic batteries 
Tobacco pipes . . 

Sugar 

Steam engines & boilers. . ! 
Iron and metallic com- ' 

compounds 

Kilns .' 

Gelatine 



21 Sept. 
11 July 
28 Aug. 



15 Sept. 

23 Nov. 
26 Nov. 



21 Aug. 
19 Oct. 

li'Aug. 
30 June 
4 Sept. 
19 Oct. 
16 Dec. 



2 Nov. 
12 July 

6 July 
18 July 
18 July 

12 Oct 

18 July 



Scotland. 



25 Oet. 

26 Sept. 



18 Aug. 



29 July 


3 May 
30 Aug. 


18 July 


.. . ^ 


4Sept. 


30 Nov. 
.... 


21 Aug. 


.... 


21 Dec. 


.... 


11 July 


.... 


6 July 

29 July 

2 Nov. 


!!!!• 



Ireland. 



22 June 
26 June 



2 Oct. 



3 Oct. 



3 May 
21 June 
23 Aug. 

si'iuiy 

14 Aug. 



26 Sept. 

27 Sept. 



2 Oct. 

7 Sept. 
16 June 



12 June 



28 Oct. 



11 Oefc. 



4 Oct. 



Page. 

622 



191 

167 
478 
647 



574 

142 

94 

263 
215 

623 

70 

46 
142 
454 



311 
70 

238 



311 

526 
550 



215 

407 

191 
22 
263 
407 
622 



455 
70 
46 
94 
94 

383 

94 



5 June 



XVI 



ALPHABETICAL LIST OF NEW PATKNT3. 



Name. 



Trtit 

Tariflf 

Taylor 

Taylor 

Thomas .... 

Thorn & ano. . 

Thoraton . . . .. 

Tibbits 

Townsend .... 
Travis & ano. 
Tnieman . . . . 

Turner 

Tutton 



Varley 



Wariasley ... •< 

Walker | 

Walker ;.. 

Warren & ano. -j 

WatneT & auo. . . 

Waud' 

W^cbster 

Weild 

Weldon 

Wharton 

WUd 

Wildsmith .... 

Wilkinson 

Wilkinson .... 

Wilson 

Wilson 

Wilson 

Wilson & ano.. 
Winfield & ano. . 

Winfield 

Wire 

Woodcock .... 
Wright 

Wright I 

Wrighton 



Subject. 



Producing outlines 

Turntables 

Engraving surfaces. ..... 

Propelling 

Stays; 'boots, and shoes . . 
Steam engines, breaks, 1 

and signals J 

Retarding carriages ..... 

Motive power 

Looped or knitted fabrics, 

Packing lard 

Artificial teeth and gums. 

Girders 

Building 



England. 



Steam engines. 



Young 

Young Sc ano. 
Young ...... 

Young 



Zerman 



Preventing explosion in \ 

steam boilers J 

Bands of straps' for hats, 1 

&c J 

Needles 

Bridges, aqueducts and 1 

roofing J 

Drilling 

Spinning 

Motive power 

Spinning.. •• 

Pumps 

Vehicles 

Rotary steam engines .. 
Purification of naphtha 

Coke ovens 

Vices 

Tin drums or rollers . . . 
Chisels and gouges .... 

Rotary engines 

Light, lam^s'and oleic acid 

Tubes 

Metallic bedsteads, &c.. . 

Light , 

Steam engines 

Vice boxes 

Generation of steam A \ 

evaporation of fluids. J 
Carriages and engines . . 

Closing cans or vessels . . 

Lead ores 

Winding thread, &o 

Dying and printing 



Ships and vessels 



9 Dec. 

21 Aug. 

2 Dec. 

26 July 

7 Aug. 

2NoV. 

Ifioic. 
15 Aug. 

9 Dec. 

14 Aug. 



24 June 
16 Dec. 
15 Aug. 
12 Oct. 



2 Nov. 
4. Sept. 

15 Dec. 

16 Dec. 
21 Dec. 
16 Nov. 
21 Dec. 
29 July 
21 Sept. 

28 Dec. 

14 Sept. 

2 Nov. 



31 Aug. 
12 Oct. 



21 Aug. 
23 Aug. 

2 Dec. 

9 Dec. 



Scotland, i Ireland. 



Page. 



23 Aug. 
28 Aug. 



18 Aug. 
29 June 

iMay 



5 May 



2 Aug. 



10 May 
15 Aug. 



22 June 



13 Oct. 



3 July 



10 July 



600 

215 
574 
119 

166 



455 

622 
191 

600 

191 



22 
622 
191 
383 



454 
263 
622 
622 
622 
503 
622 
143 
311 

647 
311 
454 



238 
383 



215 
2.38 
574 
600 



8 Aug. ! .... 



MUSEUM, REGISTER, JOURNAL, ANDGAZETTE, 

No. 1299.] SATURDAY JULY 1, 1848. [Prica 3rf., Stamped, Ad, 

Kditcd by J. C. Robert«on« 166, Fleet-itrcct. 

UEUTENANT-COLONBL YULE'S BREAKWATERS OF VERTICAL FLOATS. 
FIG. I, .. F»fi.». p,Q^ 




"^fm* uni* 



BBBAXWATKBt OW TB&T1CAL FLOATS. 

In prosecution of the mode proposed 
in vol. viii. of the " Professional Papers 
of the Corps of Royal Engineers," of 
resisting the force of waves by means of 
vertical floats, each spar having its sepa- 
rate anchor, I have taken an early oppor- 
tunity, after returning from abroad, to 
make some experiments with them. 

In Number 1230 of the Mechanics* 
Magazine there is a full aocounf of vari- 
ous kinds of floating breakwater^ and of 
the olgectioDB made to them ; before I 
describe how these may be met by the 
use of vertical floats, I proceed to give a 
concise notice of the steps which led me 
to adopt that form. 

When in Canada, I had seen booms 
made of squared logs, attached end to 
end by chains, for the purpose of pre- 
venting drifted timber from striking 
against the embankments of the Rideau 
Canal, and it occurred to me that if spars 
were fixed to booms, so as to make a sort 
of BotXiDgchevaux-defrisef the force of 
waves would be lessened ; but this frame 
being very iimited in depths was only 
fitted for breaking the surf. 

These booms occasionally broke loose, 
and to guard against such an accident to 
a breakwater of this kind, I thought of 
reducing them to short frames ; follow- 
ing up uiis idea, I arrived at ihe single 
spar. 

The next consideration was the me- 
thod of anchoring which I intended to 
effect by a chain (fig. 3) stretched be- 
tween two anchors, and by attaching the 
spars to it. The objection to this was 
the same as to the above frame, — unwiel- 
diness, liability to break loose, and the 
■difficulty of repairing^ 

The obvious transition was then from 
the single spar to the single anchor (figs. 
1 and 2.) 

Referring to former opinions* on 
the subject of floating brei^waters gene- 
rally, the objections to them are, 

1. The expense and difficulties of 
complicated frames, and the doubts 
which prevail that any artificial floating 
structures can produce still water ; the 
impossibility of preventing them from 
being carried from their moorings ; the 
trouble of getting them out of water 
when injured, or of replacing them after 
being repaired. 

* 8m No. 1280 abOTO nentioaed. 



BT UlUTBNAXrr-OOLOKXL TULBi A.S. 

2. Some are constructed so as to form 
a flat raft ; these are of very limited use, 
as they could only break the force of the 
surf; vessels of considerable draught, or 
exposed to the ground-swell, would be 
little sheltered by them. 

3. Light frames, *' in imiution of 
reeds,*' nave been suggested, and in 
respect to their lightness, they are a 
great improvement, but they are liable 
to be broken and to get entangled. 

4. There are difficulties in adapting 
the above methods to different deptns of 
water; and, also 

5. To the rise and fall of the tides. 

I shall now enumerate the remedies 
for these objections, premising that moat 
of them were treatea theoretically in the 
above-mentioned essay in the " Profes- 
sional Papers,** and have recently been 
confirmed by actual experiment. 

1. The cost of the single spar, 22 feet 
long, and 5 ins. diameter at the stem, 
with stone anchor containing about two 
cubical feet, about 6 lbs. weight of iron 
fitments (fies. 5, 6*,) is here about four 
shillings, the carriage and launching 
about sixpence more ; but these details 
of cost depend on local circumstances. 

With an anchor of suitable weight, 
the vertical float is immoveable in any 
weather. The operation of launching is 
simple, and there is none of the risk 
which accompanies complicated struc« 
tures, in effecting the complete renewal 
or removal of a breakwater consisting of 
them. 

2. Spars 24 feet long are sufficient to 
reach the whole depth of the largest 
waves; they supersede, therefore, the 
*' flat raft,** whicn only protects the sur- 
face. 

3. The vertical floats have all the ad- 
vantages of the light frames in imitation 
of reeds, without their liability to be 
broken and entangled, as the short 
chains of three or four links are just 
enough to allow their free vibration; 
they also give way to boats passing 
amidst them. 

4. In order to feach below tbe level 
agitated by the waves, and to suit the 
irregularity of soundings, an iron rod, 
weighing about one pound to the foot in 
length, is inserted into the spar (fig. 4,) 
and the lower end of it is attached by a 
short chain to the anchor. 

5. With respect to the rise and &I1 of 



BRBAKWATSES OV VBRTIOAL FLOATS* 



ibe tidesy it is to he observed that on 
shores where the depth of water is not 
sufBcient to float the spars at ebb tide, 
the J will lean over, and m rough weather 
have a tendency to wear each other. 



To guard against this, I ptopose to 
have a series of the spars (fig. 6, a,) so 

1>laced as to float nearly vertically in the 
owest tides, leaving (say) 5 feet of their 
tops above water. 



r I c . 3 . 




The next series (6) will be placed the 
same heisht (5 feet) above a; in like 
manner the series c above b, until the 
upper series is on a level with high water, 
or a little below it. 

By this arrangement, each series in 
succession will be protected during its 
subsidence into the quiescent state, as 
well as its rising from it. 

The experiment alluded to above, is 
now in the course of operation on the 
shore of the Forth, at Portobello, about 
feur miles to the eastward of Edinburgh. 

Upwards of 600 spars have been an- 
chored in a group of about 30 yards by 
90, with anchor and chain ; their tope 



are about 9 feet above ground; they 
are from two to four, or nve feet aparL 

These spars had been anchored nearly 
a month before I had an opportunity of 
witnessing their effect in a strong breeze 
blowing direct on shore. There was a 
considerable swell at the time, and the 
tide nearly covered them, when, greatly 
to my surprise, I perceived that the wave 
seemed to increase in size as it passed 
over them. I continued on the look out 
to ascertain if it was really the case, and 
after a few moments' reflection, I came 
to the conclusion that it must be so on 
the windward side. 

The wave as it advances is suddenly 
b2 



4 ' BREAKWATERS OF VRRTfCAL FLOATS* 

checked in its velocity, and being con- the Mechasiics^ Magazine, a new pro- 
fined in space by the spare, it rises in position is introduced in it for obviating 
height to obtain room for itself. the objections to framed works for break- 

The next coming wave is checked in -' waters ; it is simple, light, and manage- 
like manner, and as it overtakes the firet able ; not liable to injury, and it would 
wave its velocity will receive an addi- be easily repaired. It is also suited to a 
tional cheek, so as to be sooner overtaken variety of depths of water, and to the rise 
by the third wave, and so on successively, and fall of the tides — a quality which does 
while the whole in their progress will be not appear to have been attempted, or ao 
more and more involved in the group of essential as to be considered requisite, in 
spare, and finally reduced to quiescence, preceding modes of construction, though 

I have uo data yet to enable me to without it all are nearly nugatory, 

decide what breadth of the group of It remains to be decided by trial how 

spars may be sufficient for the purpose, many lines will be required. From the 

I am extending it to 60 rows or yards, nature of this construction, being con- 

and double that number may be required ; nected above as well as below, it is pro- 

but considering their moderate cost, bable that few lines may be necessarv, ao 

there are many occasions, when the ad- that this mode will be efiectual wnere 

vantage of still water would be cheaply othere could not be rendered so for want 

obtained for the expenditure. of space. 

In addition to the ordinary object of Before concluding this paper, it should 

breakwatere, this system, on account of its be mentioned, that in addition to the 

adaptation to nearly every kind of shore, short spars of 8 feet long above men- 

will be available where relief, if not im- tioned, two have been floating for several 

mediate, comes too late; for instance, in weeks of the following dimensions : one 

the case of a stranded ship. a spar 22 feet long ; tne other a spar of 

In the course of two or three days, the same length, but with 18 feet of iron 

a ship in this situation might be sur- rod attached to it, as in fig. 4. 

rounded by a number of spare, and saved The drag on the anehon of each is 

from farther injury. For such an im- calculated thus : 

portant object, it would be worth the i^f- 

^Tfwniie tn hftve dAnfits of fin&ra nnd nn. '^^^ ■P*'' ^^'^^ ^" ^«" sewoned, weighed SO 

expense 10 nave oepois 01 spars ana an- xhe Iroa fitments for the anchor .... 5 

chore ready for use at several of the 

principal harboure. They may be used ^^ ,.,...., - ^ ..a,^^ ^ 

S ^i.*^ ^ ^. m ^ tt^ !• I.* The cubical extent of the Spar it about 2 feel, 

for the protection of sea-walls or light- the displacement of water by which la . . 124 

houses during the time of their construe- — -— 

tlon ; if the gwund is rocky, the spars ^/.'SL ?iS??S,.ii. i,.i .i„i. i.^- *' 

may be attached at low- water to the cai feet, and weighs about 30o 

rock itself. The same mass of water weighs 124 

Small harbours for boats engaged in Making the weight of the anchor in water . 176 

the herring fishery might be established, Deduct the buoyancy as above 99 

and removed every season. In the High- 97 

lands, where young fir-trees are plenti- The remainder is the power of resistance of 

ful, they might be launched at little more '*'!,""?" '^ '^*i"* **" *' ^^ '*"* ^^'^^ 

.* ' .1^ » r ii. • a^ * • and vibration of the spar. 

than the cost of the iron fitments, via , ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^.^^ ,, ,„ ,^ ^^^ ^^p^^ .^ 

at from I«. to 1*. 6a. each, according to water, consists or the spar, weighing as 

the siae of the spar. t "^"J" ■ *, '? 

The channels of rivere liable to be ob- ISTLuu^engfh^ .' ! ! ! ! ! ' il 

structed bv sand or shingle, may be kept 

open by this mole, which can be more water displaced nearly i« 

easily applied than by driving piles or , 

constructing frames for that purpose. Leaving for buoyancy . . «J 

The Shinile which is COnstintly shifted Weight of anchor m water as above . . .JITS^ 

to and fro on the southern coast of £ng- Deducting? the buoyancy, the remainder Is 107 

land, might be confined to fixed poinu. t'}^',',;if<;}?,»Vp """''"'■' ""'•"«"^ 

It IS probably for the latter purpose that 

the vertical floats may b^ found best Since the abovf was written, it has 

adapted. been stated to me as an objection to the 

Reverting to the paper in No. 1230 of vertical floats, that a strong running tide 



MATHEMATICAL PERIODICALS. 



will affect their efficiency, by causing 
ifaenb to remain in an inclined position : 
ihb I do not anticipate in a materiid 
degree. The 8par, in the course of its 
▼ibratioD, will be struck by the wave 
at various angles of inclination, with a 
constantly changing and inappreciable 
effect. 
Sdinbiugh, 10th June, 1848. 



MATHXMATICAL PKBIOOICALS. 
(Contioocd firom p. 583, vol. xlviii.) 

VIII. The Enquirer. 

Origm, — This periodical was com- 
menced at Boston, in Lincolnshire, in 
the beginning of the year 1811, and was 
diaeoDtmued with the 11th number, in 
Mar, 1613. 

EdUoTi. — The first two volumes were 
jointly edited by Mr. P. Thompson, of 
Boston, and Mr. William Marrat, author 
of a *' Treatise on Mechanics," << Mecha- 
nical Philosophy," " History of Lincoln- 
shire," &c.; the last three numbers 
were edited by Mr. Marrat alone. 

Con/ejB/tf.— Each number of the work 
was divided into two portions. Under the 
head of the ** Juvenile Department " 
were given prise subjects in the Latin 
and French Languages; English Com- 
position, and Junior Mathematics; 
Translations from the I^tin and French 
Languages; English Themes; English 
Verse, and Answers to the Junior Ma- 
thematical Questions. The Department 
for " General Correspondence* 'contained 
Essays on English Grammar; Critical 
and Grammatical Observations-; Essays 
on Antiquities, Topography, Etymology, 
Curioeities and Coins ; Account of, and 
Extracts from, Bare and Curious Books; 
Extracts and Essays on various subjects 
in the Arts and Sciences ; Chemical and 
Philosophical Essays and Queries ; Use- 
ful Becipes in the Arts and Manufac- 
tures; Miscellaneous Essays; Poetry, 
original and selected; Mathematical 
F^rs, original and translated ; Mathe- 
matical Questions and Solutions, for 
which various prizes were awarded, &c. 
Amonff the many interesting and elegant 
contributions to this well-sustained and 
valuable periodical, may be mentioned a 
series of racy articles entitled, '* My 
Lumber Boom ;" '* Account of the Books 
used in Churches and Monasteries before 
the Beformation;" **0n the Art of 
RiDging Bella ^" '< Pens^es Detach6ea ;" 



" On the Dry Bot:'*— a series of valu- 
able papers entitled " A Survey of 
the Boman Antiquities in the County 
of Lincoln," well worthy of attention, 
which were contributed by Mr. P. Moore, 
of Bourne, in Lincolnshire, who died 
shortly after their publication : ** Imita- 
tations of the Poetry of Henry Kirkc 
White;'* <*0n the Dissolution of the 
Worid ;" << Bibliographical Anecdotes ;" 
" Specimens of the Similarity and Con- 
nection of Languages ;" ** On the several 
sorts of Vicious Argumenta called 
Sophisms;" — a series of articles ar« 
ranged under the heads of " Gleanings" 
and the '* Collector," containing a num- 
ber of very curious and interesting parti- 
culars connected with old usages and cus- 
toms, the origin of common proyerba, 
&c. J «* On Gravitotion," by Mr. P. 
Thompson; ** On Female Education," 
from the Edinburgh Review; '*0n 
Vegetable Instinct and the Sleep and 
Sensation of Plants," by Mr. Tapper; 
'* Critical Essay on the Prophecies of 
Daniel;" *• The Commodities of Arith- 
metic," from the " Grounde of Artes," 
by Boberte Becorde ; *' On the Uneven- 
ness of the Earth's Surface;" &c. The 
poetic department was also well sustained, 
and many of the queries are worthy of 
attention from their curiositity, useful- 
ness, and importance. In the mathema- 
tical essays are articles on '* The 
Composition of Forces," and ** The 
Equations of Motion,'* translated from 
Francoeur by Mr. Marrat; " The Pro- 
perties of Infinites and Nothing;" ** Ob- 
servations on a Curious Mechanical 
Problem," by Mr. Marrat ; " Investiga- 
tion of Formuls for the Values of ue 
Tangent and Cotangent of an Arc,** by 
Mr. G. Harvey, Plymouth ; " On the 
Properties of the Lever/* by Mr. A. 
Hirst, Marsden; '* Geometrical Prob- 
lems by the Compasses alone,** from 
Macheroni's G^omitrie du Compass 
" Essay on Fluents,*' by Mr. G. Harvey, 
&c. 

Questions. — The total number of ma- 
thematical questions proposed and an- 
swered in the senior department is 165; 
most of those left unanswered on the 
discontinuance of the work were solved 
in the first number of the Leeds Carre' 
spondent. The editor appears to have 
exercised good taste in the selection of 
his questions and solutions, most of them 
being of a very interesting and practical 



MATHEMATICAL PERIODICALS. 



6 

ebanioter :^he application of Algebra, 
Diophantine Analysis, Geometry, and 
Mechanics, appear to predominate, and 
would supply many a ** dainty morsel " 
to the "getters up** of a series of exa- 
mination papers. The work contains 
more of the able and elegant investiga- 
tions of Mr. John Ryley, of Leeds, who 
wrote under the signature of ** Ry- 
lando," than any other work with which 
I am acquainted. 

CentrUtularM. — The principal contri- 
butors were Messrs. Allen, Baines, Brus- 
ter, Butter worth. Cook, Dunn, Eyres, 
Gawthorp, Harvey, Hine, Hirst, .Tones, 
Jobnson, Kay, Maffett, Nesbit, Putsey, 
Shaw, Tomlinson, Webster, Whitley, 
Winward, &c. 

Publication. — It was issued in quar- 
terly numbers, whieh were printed for the 
editors by Whittingham and Rowland, 
Goswell-street, and sold by Scatcherd and 
Letterman, Ave Maria Lane, London; 
and Thompson and Barnett, Boston. 

*•* I cannot dismiss this periodical 
without expressing a regret that circum- 
stances should have arisen which rendered 
its continuance impossible. Mathemati- 
cal periodicals at all times appear to have 
been unproductive speculations. Fortune 
seems to be adverse to their prosperity, 
however auspiciously begun, and in this 
ease the editors were destined to expe- 
rience their full share of what is too often 
the lot of those who are anxious to live 
and labour for the good of mankind. The 
DiarieSf no doubt, would long ago have 
ceased to exist, if they had depended 
solefy upon their own intrinsic merits 
and usefulness for support ; it is perhaps 
more than conjectural that the profits 
derived from the more vendible Astrolo- 
ffieal and Weather predictions of Old 
Partridge and Francis Moore serve to 
buoy up in some degree the otherwise 
dead weight of Diarian speculations. 
The Liverpool " Student,** that *• work 
of rare merit,** as Professor Davies well 
observes, divided a profit of Jive guineas 
among its principal contributors, arising 
fh>m the sale of the first three numbers ; 
the fourth number was a ** dead failure," 
and the work vras discontinued. ''Com- 
mercial distress** has often been urged by 
the proprietors of such publications, when 
every efibrt has failed to prolong their 
existence; but, divested of its techni- 
cality^ the expression has too frequently 
•ignmed ruin to themselves and no sale 



for the work. One after another of the 
periodicals has passed out of exisfenee, 
to be succeeded by others as ephemeral 
as themselves. "Leybourn's Repository" 
and the '' Gentleman's Mathematical 
Companion," would seem to be excep- 
tions, since they attained to a eompara^ 
lively ** patriarchal age,'* but probably 
some under-current of self-sacrifice en- 
abled these vessels of science to ride so 
long in safety. Nor is the lack of sup- 
port a thing unknown even in the present 
dearth of such publications. Already the 
'* Cambridge and Dublin Mathematical 
Journal*' has hoisted its signal of dis- 
tress, and if such is the condition of a 
journal published at <* the first University 
in the world,'* who can venture to pre- 
dict the long continuance of its worthy 
contemporary, the Mathematician, Mr. 
Marrat informs me, in one of his ex- 
cellent and interesting letters, that thev 
printed 750 copies of the "Enquirer," all 
of which were sold, except 20 complete 
copies, that remained when the work 
was ^iven up. ** The publishers and the 
printers got all the money as the numbers 
were sold, and at the close of the busi- 
ness we got a bill for ^130 ! ! ! So we 
did all the work, and lost that sum into 
the bargain.** Some valuable remarks 
on the efforts which have been made by 
the " Non- Academics " of this country 
for the furtherance of science,. are given 
in a late volume of the PhiL Mag., by 
"J. J." (your own "Exoniensis," I be- 
lieve,) and with what success may be seen 
in an excellent letter from Profnsor 
Davies; inserted in pp. 428-31, vol. 
xlvi. of this Magasine. It is therefore 
unnecessary for me to dilate on this sub- 
ject, but I must crave your indulgence 
while I show, that to Mr. Marrat the 
above was only " the beginning of sor- 
rows.** In 1810 he published, by sub- 
scription, ** An Introduction to the Theory 
and Practice of Mechanics*,** — a work 
which has been pronounced by one of 
the best living authorities, as *< the first 
book of its class at that time in England ;" 
it was dedicated to Dr. Mutton, and 
gained the author much repute. His con- 
nexion with several other publications, 
and the editorship of the " Enquirer,'* 
served to increase his fame, and shortly 
after its discontinuance, on the advice of 
several influenrial friends, and under the 
avowed patronage of Sir Joseph Banks, 
he commenced the publication of " TfaQ 



MATHSXATICAL PBRIOBICALS. 



Hittonr of Llneolnsbire/' a work for 
which 1118 pre?iou8 studies had eminently 
qnalifled him. '< The patron and the 
giol,*' says the authority aoove alluded to, 
" have bleen linked together by one who 
knew, because he had feli, the effect of 
9uch patronctge as the aristocracy and 
the squirearchy confer/' and Marrat was 
soon to learn by bitter experience that 
he formed no exception to the general 
rale. He says, *' At the request of se yeral 
gentlemen, I began lo publish a History 
of Lincolnshire, and in the presence of 
my worthy friend Mr. (afterwards Sir 
Joiin) Rennie, the celebrated engineer. 
Sir Joseph Banks promised me the use 
of all his papers. The work was pub- 
Bshed in numbers. I carried it on for 
about four years before I applied to Sir 
Joseph. It was pretty well known that 
he had many valuable documents relating 
to the history of the county, and I men- 
tioned on the wrappers of the numbers 
that Sir Joseph Banks had granted me 
the nse of all his papers, on which ac- 
ooant the work sold extremely well. 
When I wrote to him I told him, that, 
with bis permission, I would go to Reyes- 
ley Abbey, where he resided when in 
the country, and take copies of such 
papers as would be useful to me, without 
taking them from his possession, because 
I thought that would prevent any suspi- 
cion (for I knew that he sometimes had 
strange freaks) that might arise about 
my not returning his papers. He an- 
swered my letter by saying that he knew 
* noihing about me; that I had made an 
umdue use of hie name on the wrappers 
of the makbere I had published; that he 
neuter promised me the use of his papers, 
mar should I ever have any of them. 
On reading the letter I thought the man 
was mad, but what could I do ? In my 
own justification, I had a letter from Mr. 
Bennie, which stated, that ' Sir Joseph, 
with his usual urbanity, had granted 
me the use of all his papers,' which I 
showed to liord Brownlow and some other 
BoUemen and gentlemen who patronised 
the work ; but when Sir Joseph had thus 
acted, they were of opinion that the work 
ooold not be carried on, because his 
papers were thought to be extremely 
valaable. I therefore gave up the work, 
and was nearly ruined.** In a subsequent 
letter Mr. Marrat says, '* The reason why 
Sir Joseph Banks used me so shamefully, 
I am fully persuaded, was, that he had 



no pavers, and he was not honest enough 
to acknowledge it, seeing it had gone 
forth to the world that he had some vain- 
able documents concerning the antiquities 
of the county. Besides which, he did 
not. know that I had friends who would 
avenge me of such usage. He was not 
aware that Dr. Hutton and Dr. Gregory 
were friends of mine, and would take up 
cudgels in my favour.'* Little need be 
added by way of comment upon the pre- 
ceding statement : suffice it to say, that 
Mr. Marrat never recovered from the 
effects of Sir Joseph Banks's patronage 
and urbanity, ana that he still exists in 
the most straitened circumstances, a 
venerable monument of blighted pro- 
spects, in consequence of relying too 
much upon the readily promised but 
rarely exercised patronage of the great. 
Yours, &c., 

ThOS. WUiKINSOH. 
Burnley, Lancashiret June 24, 1848. 

[We have heard before of the affair 
referred to at the close of our corres- 
pondent's letter. Of course Mr. Marrat's 
own version must be taken as the true 
one, so far as he was himself concern- 
ed: but we believe that Sir Joseph 
Banks did possess some valuable papers 
respecting the history of his county; 
ana it may be as well to mention 
that Sir Edward KnatchbuU, Bart., and 
Mr. Dawson Turner, as his executors, 
most probably possess them. This may 
serve as a hint to any other inquirer into 
the history of the county of Lincoln, as 
to where materials of value may, in all 
probability, be obtained. 

As regards the actual reason of Shr 
Joseph's conduct towards Mr. Marrat, 
we have heard, upon what we deem very 
good authority, that it was neither more 
nor less than the dedication of his 
work on "Mechanics" to Dr. Hutton. 
Those of our readers who are familiar 
with the history of the Royal Society, 
and the ejection of Dr. Hutton from its 
secretaryship, will be able to fill up the 
picture. 

The Royal Society, however, is not a 
palatable subject with us ; althoxigh it is 

Srobable that we may shortly be in- 
uced to take some notice of the present 
dissensions by which it is torn almost to 
pieces.— £i>. M. M.] 



ftlSHTON's IMPROVBD VIMCRY WMLkMt. 

[RegUtered under the Act for the Protection of Articles of Utility. Henry Risbton, of Kendal^ 
plumber, Proprietor.] 



Fie. I. 



VIC. 3. 




(. * 1 


{ 

( 

1 


1 

1 


• 






. 


M 


t 






U 

Urn 


y . -. ,„ - ::.:-. .,. ,7-^ =1 


f 

V. - 


1 




y- —. 7\ 












\ < ^ 



Fig. 1 is a longitudinal^ section of 
part of a frame, on this improved plan, 
of the full size ; fig. 2 is a plan, or a 
smaller scale of one-half of a complete 
frame, and fig. 3 is a longitudinal sec- 
tion of fig. 2. A A, are the styles and 
astragals of the frame ; B B, cross-bars 
of thin metal into which the upper ends 
of the squares of glass (a) are inserted 
and made fast by putty, as shown in fig. 
1. Each square of glass is kept at the 
bottom, a short distance clear of the bar, 



B, which it overhangs, which prevents 
the collection of water and discoloured 
matter at the lap, and leaves also room 
for the expansion of the glass, so as to 
exclude all chance of breaking from 
frost ; while at the same time ventila- 
tion is facilitated, and any square of 
elass may be removed without disturbing 
tne others. C, is a strip of angle-shaped 
metal which carries off the water outside 
when it arrives at the bottom. 



ON m BVFCCT OF SUPIRXNCUMBKyT PRUSURB AS REGARDS THB QUESTION, WltRTHBR 
8RA-WAI.LS SHOULD BE SLOPING OR VERTICAL. BT HUGH M'CORlfAC, BSQ., M.D. 

Sir,^Altbough one of the uninitiated, 
pennit me to advert to a very important 
point in the construction of sea-walls, 
which marine engineers, so far as I know, 
have hitherto overlooked — namely, su- 
permatmbent pressure. This seems to 
me one of the first elements to be taken 
into account We all know that when 
a stone is immersed in water, it loses of 
its weight equal to the weight of the mass 
of water which it displaces. It is this 
circumstance which gives the moving 
surge, itself almost of the specific gravity 
of onic, the enormous power which it has 
over the stone. This, however, may be 
counteracted, under whatever exigency, 
by adequate superincumbent weight. It 
is owing to the latter, that the chalk - 
etiffii of Britain have withstood, as they 
have done, though of so soft a material, 
the assaults of the ocean through so many 
thousand Tears. It is owing to this that 
we are still enabled to admire and vene- 
rate the handiwork of Smeaton, in the 
Eddystone, which the sea vainly lashes 
with an almost undying surge. This 
consideration of superincumbent pres- 
sore, at once decides the preference in 
favour of perpendicular sea-walls and 
breakwaters. If superincumbent pres- 
sore had been resorted to, the breakwater 
at Plymouth, or that at Cherbourg, would 
not have had its summit, though formed 
of massive stones, torn away. And if the 
harbour of refuge at Dover be formed 
on any other principle, it will prove a 
source of bitter regret to all concerned, 
as well as of heavy expense to the nation, 
from the unceasing dilapidations which 
must necessarily ensue. Let the sea- 
waJi of this and other refuge harbours 
be formed of massive stones, properly 
baaed and bonded, and built into an up- 
right wall, wHk a sufficient amount of 
nmerincumbent pressure, and it will last 
all the ages of the island itself. But if 
constructed otherwise, it will not last at 
all; as yon and I shall doubtless live to 
see, if they try it. And whv is superin- 
cumbent' pressure, it may be asked, so 
advantageous ? Why, simnly, because it 
imparts that stability to the underlying 
masses of stone, which they are liable to 
lose; partly owing to their immersion, 
and partly owing to the rush of the sea. 
A stone often tons surmounts a sea-wall. 
It nay be thought sufficient : but a gale 



comes ; the stone is immersed, loses of 
its weight and stability together; heels 
over with the rush of the sea, and is dis- 
placed. The one beneath shares the same 
fate; and so the structure, albeit mas- 
sive, is destroyed. But surmount the 
whole with sufficient additional weight : 
let the ten ton stone be loaded with a 
hundred, or a thousand tons, if necessary, 
above the point of immersion ; and all the 
power of the elements, if the wall be 
only properly bonded, will never affect it. 
It is the flying buttress which enables 
the cathedral wall to resist the side thrust 
of the arch : we must, in the same man- 
ner, resort to a flying buttress, but pro- 
portionately massive, to resist the thrust 
of the sea. I saw very well that this was 
what was needed, when there was talk 
some time ago about a harbour of refuge 
on the Goodwin Sands. I saw that if 
they built a proper sea-wall— that is to 
say, an upright one — ^resting on Pott's or 
Mitchell's piles, whichever was found 
most eligible, and raised it high, above 
the utmost wash of the sea, with an ade- 
quate amount of superincumbent weight, 
in the form of what I might call a marine 
(flying) buttress, that the storm might 
blow and the sea flow, without ever im- 
pairing the stability of the structure. It 
was clear that the toy which was put up, 
or any similar toy, could not possibly 
withstand the wear and tear of the sturdy 
elements. Living or dead, I hope to have 
the satisfaction of knowing that what I 
here propose has been done ; and that a 
** harbour for all nations*' shall one day 
occupy a spot now devoted to desolation 
and death. 

A correspondent, W., in your able 
Journal, May 13,'p. 463, adduces another 
point in favour of vertical walls, of very 
great, and, taken in connexion with the 
consideration of adequate superincum- 
bent pressure, of conclusive weight. He 
quotes from Professor Airy— "The pecu- 
liarity," observes Professor Airy, ** fn the 
effects of an upright wall from the bottom 
of the sea, is this, that the sea does not 
break upon it." No, indeed, it docs not. 
I have oDscrved this in the Gobbins, near 
Belfast ; at Donaghadee harbour ; at the 
Deserta Isles, near Madeira : and it may 
be witnessed, I believe, at the cliffs of 
Kilkee and of Lake Superior. The pro- 
fessor adducer several other instances of 
B 3 



10 



NOTES ON THE THEORY OF ALOBBEAIC EQUATIONS. 



this oircamstance, which I do not recollect 
faaTing been noticed by any one else. It 
u howeyer most important ; and taken in 
sonnexion with adequate superincumbent 
vreasure, as I have just yentured to state, 
oiffhly so. 

It is hardly necessary to adduce further 
arguments in favour of a position that 
ought, when stated, to carry conviction 
along with it; nevertheless, when one 
Gonsiders the yearly losses which sea- 
dykes and esplanades everywhere entail, 
it should suggest a suspicion of some 
fundamental error in the construction. 
Instances of this will be present in the 
mind of every one. Our good f ri ends and 
neighbours the Dutch lay out vast sums 
of money yearly in keeping up their 
dykes and holders. Let us suppose they 
had been of stone, vertical, and sur- 
Biounted above the highest rise of the 
water with a massive wall, the sea might 
boom and roar for ever, or so long at 
Init as the living rock endures, without 
•mailing injury ; and consequently, with- 
out entailing fresh expense. I am, &c.y 
U. M*CoEMAc, M.D. 

Beir»8t, June 5. 

[We shall give a paper by Mr. Dredge on the 
oppQsiU tide in otir next.— Ed. M. M.] 



V 



WOTKS ON THE THBORT OF ALGEBRAIC 

BaUATIOMS. BY JAMES COCKLE, ESQ., 

M.A., BARaiSTBR.AT.LAW. 

(Continued Arom rol. zWiii., p. 607.) 
Second Series. Note £. 

Let F-C^.y. *,.,.) 

represent a general function of the n-th 
degree and of the quantities between the 
brackets which follow it, so that F diflPers 
from^ inasmuch as the latter denotes a 
homogeneous function. Then the equa- 
tbns 

P»(*, y, «)-0, and FJ(x, y, O-O, 
are two simultaneous and general " ter- 
tiary** quadratics which may, by ''sim- 
ple " quadratics only, be solved in a 
manner which difiPers from the solutions 
previously given or alluded to,* is easy 
of application, and ckpable of an interest- 
ing comparison with Mr. Jerrard's 
Method of treating similar questions. 

Multiply the last of the given equa- 
tions into an undetermined quantity \ 
and add the product to the first, then we 
have 

FJ(x, y, z) + XFJ(x, y. r)-0., (23.) 

determine X so that 3^ may disappear 

• Jf«c*.iC«y., VOL zlTiiL, pp. ed» ^UL) and 6(», 



from (23.), then this equation will take 
the form 

Bar + P(y,r)«0,..(24.) 
where Betfy + dz + tf ; 

let B"*0 and eliminate z from (24.), th«a 
that equation will take the form 

F»(y)=0 
an ordinary quadratic from which y majr 
be determmed. We may next obtain the 
value of » from B"0, and finally that of 
X from either of the given tertiary 
quadratics or from (24.) 

Again, the above tertiary quadratioa 
may be solved by the following process, 
which somewhat resembles the preceding, 
but which entails upon us the solution of 
a biquadraticytiji^ which is, consequently, 
of interest only so far as it affords an ex- 
ample of a general method of proceeding. 
Put one of the given equations under 
the form 

*(ftj; + B)+FJ(y, z)«0, 

assume that 

J;r+B-0......(25.) 

and by means of (25.) eliminate 9 from 
each of the given quadratics, we shaU 
then have two resulting equations of thft 
form 

FJ(y,z)-0aadFj(y,2;)-0 

whence y and z may be determined, and 
a? may be obtained from either of the 
given quadratics, or from (25.) 

Next let it be required to solve the 
system 



F«(jr,y,^,p,g)=0-1 
FJ(*,y,jr,i»,g) = oi. 

F;(*,y,^,F,0-oJ 



Omitting for convenience the quantities 
between the brackets, form the equations 
F« + XF««0... (26.) 

F«+X'F*-0...(27.) 

and determine X and X' so that a^ may 
vanish from (26.) and (27.), then those 
equations will take the form 

B,* + FJ(y,«,;>,^)-0..(28.) 
Bfl* + F,(y,*,p,?)=0..(29.) 
where B^ and B, are linear functions of 
^, z, /?, and q. By means of the equa- 
tions 

Bj=0andBa=0..(30.) 

let p and q be eliminated from ^28.) and 

(29.), then those equations will oeeome 

F»(y,z)-OandFJ(y,z)-0, 

whence y, and s are known ; and ^ and 
q are given by mesiu of the two eqwi« 



THE WAVE P1ULNC1F]:.B IK »HIFBU1LDIII<J. 



11 



titfiia iMiked (3a> ; and finally, ot may 
kt deienaiaed from way one of the giYen 
^piadratiea. 

In entering upon speoalations of this 
hind we appear to have arrived at a rich 
mhie of discoverj. But here, for the 
Bt, I leave them, and hring the 
ond Series of these Notes to a con- 
eksion. Shonid it he permitted me to 
resame the subject-^and I hope shortlv 
to have an opportunity of doing so — ^1 
shall give a discussion of the various 
solutions of the question known as ''Co- 
knel Tit OS's Problem/'* But I am 
deatrotta of stating here that the solution 
•f Fbbiib in its principle involves im- 
psrtant ooDsequenees, and that the solu- 
lisB of the equations (4.), (5.) and (6.) 
<^ p. 512 of the last volume of this work is 
a generalisation (or rather an extension 
to the general case) of the method which 
Fbekd employed in a particular instance. 
But neither does Fbend appear to have 
been aware of, nor subsequent writers to 
have noticed, this generalization. Any 
narrowness of view on the part of Fbbnd 
will probably be attributed to a confined 
sysUm of envisaging a subject rather 
t^ to a defect of analytical power, and 
pixhaps there are some who will agree 
with me in thus thinking that nothing 
but such a system, and an imperfect con- 
eeption of the true nature of Algebra, 
could have rendered (comparatively speak- 
ing) nugatory the scientific enthusiasm, 
the ardoup, and the disinterested zeal of 
SQQh men as Masb&es and him to whom 
I have just alluded. 

I take this opportunity of mentioning 
with respect the name of Mr.LocK.BAnT 
in connection with the subject of equa- 
tions. I hope on another occasion to call 
iltention to some of his investigations. 

2, ChuTch-yaid Court, Temple. Jane 24, 184S. 

Errata. 
Vol. xlviii., p. 606, col. 1, notef, lin« 5 ; 
hrfore " form" add general. 

■ , p. 606, col. 1, note t, line 6 ; 
b^ore «* ="a<W +A. 

, p. 606, col. 1, note f, be- 
tween lines 6 and 7 insert, 

where K^bx + cy + dr + ijp. 
■ , p. 607, col. I, note t [Une 4] 

eqjuation (/3), transpose x and y. 

♦ 8i*e some remarks on this problem at p. 159 
•C Prot J. R. Young's Mathematical Dinsertaticns, 
OrfMMioa. 184U) *t VP- 272—274 of Prof. T. 8. 
mvUtf's Srtlultona to HtiHon's Conrne, (London, 
iMtf,) Be. The method of Messrs. Whitley, Settle, 
ayi«j, ii Meatio^ in pdneipU with that of 



IB4 ayi«: 

nrntoh 



TBR WAYB PmiNOIFLB IK %BSPBVl\TUXQ, 

Mr. Sc(^t Russell gave a lectare at the 
Royal Institution oa the 2nd instant, oo the 
sew priaciple introduced by him into ship* 
building, called the Wave Principle. We 
extract the following abstract of it from the 
Athenaum : Mr. RosseH's object was— /r«#» 
to explain his theory of naval conatruction ; 
secondly, to connect with that theory prae* 
tical rules for the construction of ships ; 
Bnd, JUutlfy, to state the resolU which hare 
followed the adoption of the form resulting 
from this principle,— by the general adop-^ 
tion of which the velocity of merchant 
steam. thipi have, within twelve or fifteen 
years, been raised from an aversge of nine 
or ten miles to an already achieved speed of 
seventeen or eighteen miles an hour. Tho 
theory is derived from the observed proper- 
ties of what Bir. Soott Russell has termed 
the. solitary wane of translation (or tho 
wave of the first order), and those of the gre- 
gariovs wave of oscillation (the wave of the 
second order). The fir«t-named wave moves 
with a velocity which can neither be acce- 
lerated nor retarded by the velocity of the 
floating body which produces it ; while the 
latter does depend on the sf ee<i of the boat 
by which it is caused. The solitary wave ia 
formed by the bow of a ship when in motion, 
and its velocity depends on the curve of the 
water-line of the vessel. Mr. Scott RusseU 
proceeded to connect with these properties 
of the waves he described the following prin- 
ciplci of naval architecture : — 1. The prin- 
ciple of removing the least quantity of watfr 
to the least distance. Assuming that all 
horizontal motion through a fluid impli^ 
the displacement of that fluid, it is obvioufi 
that the amount of moving power required 
to propel a vessel will vary with the bulk of 
water disturbed and the range of lu dis- 
turbance. In the ordinary construction, a 
great mass of water is set in motion on either 
side of the bows of the ship ; but, as Mr. 
Scott Rnssfell had proved experimentally in 
the wave boats, no more water was disturbed 
by them than was occupied by the immerqed 
portion of the vessel.— 2. The principle of 
adapting the form of the body which is to dis- 
turb the water to the natural form of the fluid 
which is to be disturbed. Referring to the pro- 
perties of the wave of translation, Mr. Scott 
RusseU proved that it was impossible to 
propel any vessel with a speed greater than 
that of the wave of the first order which it 
pruduced by its motion ; and that, therefore^ 
wherever speed was required, the shape of 
the vessel mast be modified to accord with 
laws of that wave. Thus, the length of fast 
ships mast be great (200 feet of keel being 
lequisite to insure with least power a spe^ 
of la miles an hour, 300 feel of keel to a(« 



12 



BDDDS'S RAir-STRAIOHTENIKO MACHINE. 



tain 23 miles, &c.) On the same principle, 
boats made on the wave principle^re broad- 
est abaft the middle ; the lines of ran are 
much finer in the bow than at the stern, the 
bow portion of the water* line being con- 
cave. — 3. The principle of allowing the re- 
placement of water to take place with the 
greatest possible velocity. The wave formed 
by the after part of a ship is not the wave of 
translation, bnt the oscillating wave of the 
second order. It arises from a vertical mo- 
tion of the water from, below to replace the 
hollow left behind the ship as it passes on- 
wards. This replacement is most rapid when 
the stem portion of the water-line is full. 
Mr. Scott Russell mentioned that vessels of 
various kinds which had been built on the 
principles he described (although the prin- 
ciples themselves were not understood by 
those who acted on them) had always been 
remarkable for speed. The old Thames 



wherry, the smugglers' boats, privateers, thel 
caique of the Bosphorus, fishing-boats in 
the North of Scotland, have been built more 
or less on this principle ; and it was remark- 
able that whenever the form of any of these 
vessels was changed, with a view to improve- 
ment, the speed was always diminished. But 
'the most important test of the wave princi- 
ple of construction is afiforded in the Holy- 
head fast boats, — all of which had systema- 
tically been constructed, with more or less 
accuracy, in conformity with the wave prin- 
ciple, and are propelled at the rate of from 
17i to 18^ miles an hour; the rapidity 
being the greatest in those boats in whose 
construction this principle is most accurately 
maintained. By the same principle, he felt 
satisfied that 23 miles an hour could be pro- 
duced ; and he was quite prepared to carry 
that speed practically into effect. 



OaOVBS AND sons' DOUBLE VILB-HANDLB. 

[Regittered under the Act for the Protection of Articles of Utility. Richard Groves and Sons, of 
Sheffield, Tool-makers, Proprietors.] 




Fig. 1 is a side elevation of this very 
useful instrument in its complete state, 
and fig. 2 a plan of the same. A is the 
file ; BB, the handles ; C, a flat bar or 
plate, to which the handles are affixed ; 
DD are two screws, which are passed 
through holes in the plate, C, into the 
file, which is tapped with a correspond- 



ing screw during the process of manu- 
facture. When the file bos been used 
on one side, the screws, DD, may be 
taken out, and the handle fixed on the 
reverse side ; or the file may be used by 
placing a handle on the tang, £, as files 
are generally used. 



D0DDS*8 RAIL-8TBAIGHTBNIN0 MACHINE. 

[Registered under the Act for the Protection of Articles of Utility. Isaac Dodds, of Glasgow, 
Civil Engineer, Proprietor.] 



Fig. 1 is a front elevation of this ma- 
chine, and fig. 2 is an end elevation of 
the same. AA is the bed-plate of the 
machine; BB are two pillows or sup* 
ports, upon which the bar to be straight- 
ened is laid. CC is the pillar of the 
press, which is cast in one piece with 
the bed-plate, A; D, the nut, formed 



of the upper part of the pillar. £ is the 
screw, and F a stud-piece, which forms 
the opposing point of strain to the pil- 
lows, BB. 

' The bed and pillar of this machine 
being of one piece, are consequentljr of 
much greater strength than the machmes 
of this kind hitherto constructed, which 



BZYTATION OF FALUNS BODIES FROU THE PERFEKDTCULAK. 



13 



f I Off 1^ 




haye been always made in separate 
pieces. 

ON TRB DBVf ATION OF FALLING B0DIK8 
FKOM THB PBRPKNOICULAR. 

Sereral experiments have indicated, that 
bodies falling through great heights, do not 
drop into the position occupied by a plum- 
met suspended at the point from which the 
body falls, but somewhat to the south and 
east of it The latter deviation is in ac« 
eordance with what might be expected as a 
result of the earth's rotation on its axis ; 
but an explanation of the former did not 
^pear so obTious. The inflaence of Dia- 
magnetism was, we belieye suspected, and 
with a Tiew to determine this, the experi- 
ments detailed in a paper by the Secretary, 
published in the last Report of the Royal 
Cornwall Polytechnic Society, and which 
appeared in a late number of this Magazine, 
seams to have been instituted. These expe- 
riments, on account of the great discre- 
pancies among them, cannot be considered 
satisfactory as respects the amount of south 
deviation; but that such a deviation did 
exist in those cases, seems clear. Mr. Rnn- 
dell attributes it to the increased time oc- 
cupied by a body in foUfaig, occasioned by 



the resistance of the air, and in the exam- 
ples given, supposes it proportional to the 
square of this increase of time. Now this 
explanation has ^reference only to the pecu- 
liar mode of calculation which he has adopt- 
ed, and the omission of an agency which, 
though perhaps of little effect in those par- 
ticular instances, inust greatly modify gene- 
ral views of the subject. Oul* purpose is to 
give the method of estimating more accu- 
rately the deviation, ezclosive of the ait's 
resistance, and afterwards endeavour to point 
out the manner in which the air will effect it. 




Let PAKD be a great dicle of the earth 
(assumed to be a sphere) passing through 
the pole P and the point A. ; AB, a perpen- 
dicular to the surface at A, and B the point 
from which the body falls. Also, let AFHK 
be a great circle passing through A, whose 
plane is perpendicular to the plane of the 
former ; and ALD a parallel of latitude, 
also passing through A. At the instant 
of the bodies being dropped those circles 
ere supposed to become stationary, while 
the point A, and perpendicular AB move 
with the earth on the parallel of latitude 
ALD. If the body were not intercepted 
by the earth it wonld describe an ellipse, 
of which the centre of the earth would 
be either a focus or centre, according as 
the space through which it fell was without 
or within the surface; its plane likewise 
would be the plane of the circle AFHK. 
Whence, if BF represent the path of the 
body, it will be a portion of an ellipse, and 
will meet the earth on the circle AFHK, so 
that the point on which it drops must be in 
a lower latitude than that from which it fell. 
We need not here investigate the process of 
finding this latitude, but will simply stats 
the result. 

Let / represent the latitude of the point 
from which the body falls ; L, that of the 
point on which it drops ; /, the ratio of the 



14 



DfiVIATXON OF FALLIMO BODISS FROM TUS FSRPBKDICUI,AR« 



forc« of gravitj to the centrifugal force at 
tbe eqoator ; «» the space throogh which 
the body falU ; a, the ratio of the radius to 
the distance from the earth's centre of the 
point from which the body falls. Theo, 
when 9 is without the surface of the earth, 
putting the radiua » r 




and when it is within the earth, 
sin. 



1_ (g'-l)co*»/ 



By means of these expressions we may 
raadtly find the deviation from the true per- 
pendlenlar of a body falling from any height 
either within or without the surface; for 
since sin L can be found, we have, sin 
{/- L}-*8in / cos Ir— cos / sin L. 

If the earth were at rest, a plumb line 
would tend direct to its centre, and thus 
indicate the true perpendicular; but the 
ee»trifttgaL force arising from ita rotation 
must evidently thow the plummet off, and 
thus eause a deviation in this likewise. If 9 
represent the length of the plumb line, and 
D the deviation from the true perpendicular 
of the plummet, then, when D is small 
9Qmpand with the earth's radius 

T\^* «n f .cos / 
/-co»2/ 

To illustrate these formula by an example : 
it will be found that in lat. 53'^ nearly 
(i. e. the lat. whose sine is ,6) a body drop- 
ped (in vacuo) without the earth's surface 
through a height of 1254 feet faUs 2087716 
foot from the perpendicular, while a plumb 
line of the same length deviates 2087340 
foet. Hence the body falls ,000376 feet 
south of the plumb line. Within the sur- 
fcce with a height of 1253 feet, the body 
deviates 2087151 feet, while the deviation 
of the plumb line is 2087089, which gives 
the deflection in this case ,000062 feet, or 
9nly ^th of the former. The reason of 
this is, that within the earth, the oentririigal 
force varies as the foroe of gravity ; whUe 
wkheut the surface the former inereaseSf 
while the latter rapidly diminishes. 

If, instead of an ellipse, we suppose the 
path desoribed by the faUing body to be a 
portion of a parabola, to which it will in 
vsality very nearly approximate, we eau 
•asily show the near equality subsisting be- 
tween the deflections of that falliag body 
•od the plumb line. In this case the velocity 
of the body in the direction of a tangent to 
tiM oiroleoCUtitiMlt of the point from which 



it drops will be uniformly the same as that 
of the point ; but when thi deviation is small » 
the deflection in the plane of the circle of 
latitude varies as the square of the tangent 
to it described by the body, <or as the square 
of the time of its description, since it in 
described uniformly ; and consequently, the 
body is virtually under the action of the 
centrifugal force uniformly and constantly 
acting. Now, let 9 be the space through 
which the body falls, and also the length of 
the plumb line ; t, the time of falling through 
that space ; y, the centrifugal force, and ^, 
the space described by a falling body in one 
second. Let also d represent the dieviatioii 
of the body in the plane of the circle of 
latitude, and D the like deflection of the 
plummet. Then, by the theorem for nni- 
formly-acting forces d^^/gfi; but since t is 

the time of falling through 9, fi^ — ; and, 

substituting this in the former, we get i^f9* 
To find the deflection of the plumb-line, 
since forces which are in equilibrium are 
proportional to the sides of triangles drawa 
in the directions in which they act, we have 
1 : / : : * : D. or D=/f. Wherefore D» d, 
or the deflection of the plumb-line is equal 
to the deflection of the body. This is the 
principle employed by Mr. Rundell, in the 
paper before referred to, with slight variation, 
and, of course, is not strictly accurate, but 
suflSciently so for the purpose for which it 
is required. WhUe on this part of the snjbfc 
ject, we would remark on the formula given 
by Professor Cowie, attached to Mr. Run- 
dell's paper. From the context, it would 
appear that it is intended as an expression 
of the southern deflection from the plumb- 
line, in terms of the eastern deviation ; buti 
in reality, it is the exact symbolical state- 
ment of Mr. Rundell 's process for finding 
the south deviation from the true perpendi- 
cular ; if e be supposed to represent the arc 
described by the point from which the body 
falls, instead of the eastern deviation. The 
note seems to give it this meaning, unless 
the terms " eastern deflection from the 
plumb-line" and ''eastern deviation" sig- 
nify diflerently ; and if this be the case, it 
becomes unintelligible. However, that it is 
an error so far as respects the original inten- 
tion, is clear ; for Mr. Rundell's explanation 
and calculation by means of the figures 
given, imply the total independence of the 
two deviations of each other ; or, in other 
words, the eastern deviation is assumed to 
be nothing. The result is not sensibly 
affected by this ; but there is no advantage 
attendant on it, as will be seen by comparing 
the following expression, in which the eastern 
deflection is involved, with Proiissior Cowis'i. 



BBVIATIOK Q¥ VAU.I1M BOD1S3 V&OM THB PERFSNDICULAR. 



15 



P«tT— bidf tlM time of the earth'a rota- 
«k», t the tuM of the body falling, ir» 
3-14159, r the earth'e radius, and d the 
denatioR (torn, the perpeDdicuIar, then 



ii«r sin /coa / 



C^^^-'-y) 



To calffniate the eastern deflection with per- 
faet aeeiuicy woold be Yery laborious i bat 
Ibr aauU he^hts, it will be sufficiently near 
tba truth to estimate it as equal to the pro- ' 
dM* of the time of falling by the difference 
of the Telocities of the extreme points of the 
space &Uea through. 

In efamining the effect produced on these 
leaolts by taking into account the action of 
the air» although we have no data to pro- 
eeed with, CTen if the complex nature of its 
aetioa did not preclude a very correct va- 
hMtion, yet we shall find that they must 
beeome greatly changed by it, both in quan- 
tiij and UndL The atmosphere reyol?ea 
with the earth, and a foreign body, or a 
hedy Bol partaking of its rotary motion, 
if prcgected into it, must ultimately rotate 
UkewiM. But, before acquiring this ulti- 
mate reYoWiag motion, its primary motion 
cf preieetion will, by friction and resistance, 
he gradeally destroyed. It is etident that 
the Telocity with which the body will rotate 
eunol be the same as that of the air, unless 
Ha specifie gravity be the same ; and it will 
he leea as the specific gravity and size are 
greater. For if a mass of fluid revolve, the 
emtrtlegal foroe of any portion must be 
equal to the resistance of the next exterior 
portion ; and if, instead of this first portion, 
1 body of greater weight be substituted while 
the Tdedty remains the same, the resistance 
ef the external part will be no longer equal 
to the centrifugal force, and hence the body 
camot revolve with it. But if the velocity 
of the body be diminished so that its centri« 
fcgal force may be equal to that of an equal 
maae of fluid moving with the velocity of 
the fluid, it will revolve with it ; and it is 
plain that it cannot do so otherwise. 

To apply this to our present case, we will 
divide the examples into two classes, viz., 
the same body dropped through different 
heights, and different bodies through the 
M«e height. 

Referring to the figure, it is clear, if the 
pett ef the body be in vacuo, that if it be 
wsiatcd in its tendency towards the earth's 
•entre while the projectile force is the same, 
it must describe a wider orbit ; and instead 
ol taking a course BF, will describe a path 
BH, still, however, in the same plane, 
Ihas falling in a lower latitude. Now, the 
levelvlng air affords such a resistance ; but 
the fliat, it oanaea the 



body to partake somewhat of its rotation. 
Hence, in this case, it will move in a coarse 
BM, and will, consequently, fall in a higher 
latitude than if acted on by the central 
resistance only. But when the original pro- 
jectile velocity is diminished by the friction, 
&e., to that velocity due to the body revolv- 
ing with the air, it will revolve, and the 
deviation from the perpendicular must then 
have arrived at a maximum, and if measured 
by the angle subtended at the earth's centre, 
will remain the same through whatever space 
it falls after. The eastern deviation will be 
affected rather differently ; for as soon as 
the projectile Telocity decreases so as to be 
equal to that of the point A, it will have 
attained its maximum, and then diminish 
rapidly ; since, after this, both the central 
resistance and the decreasing orbital velocity 
tend to reduce it, so that the body, after 
falling through a certain height, will not only 
lose what it first gained, but also its proper 
deviation, that is, the deviatiqn it would 
have acquired in vacuo. Any distance 
through which it falls after this, must give 
a fast-increasing westerly deflection, if a 
heavy body fall through but a small height, 
it will not be subjected to the full effect of 
the air's resistance, on account of an insuf- 
ficiency of time ; but if a body of less weight 
be used, so that the force of the air may be 
more effectiTo, the same action wiU take 
place aa Iwfore, though a sbnilarity will npt 
be exhibited in the results. Suppose the 
body under consideration to be not greatly 
different in its specific grarity from air. 
The projectile Telocity will eTidently be Tory 
soon reduced to the velocity due to its rota- 
tion in air; for the force of the air acta 
more effectively on it, and the orbital velo- 
city has to be diminished less than if it were 
a heavy body. A small height will thus 
give the maximum deviation from the per- 
pendicular ; and hence at a height not greatly 
different, this must be less than that of the 
plumb-line ; for the deviation of the plomb- 
lioe increases as the height, whUe that of the 
body, aftbr attaining its msximum, is con- 
stant, or at least sensibly so. It must, 
consequently, be expected that, with a height 
such as a quarter of a mile, or less, a very 
light body would exhibit a deflection north 
of the plumb-line ; while a consideration of 
the eastern deflection will show that we might 
not expect this to be Tery different from the 
result which would be obtained in Tacuo. 
At all events, it cannot diminish so rapidly 
as in the case of a heavy body, after obtain- 
ing its greatest amount. We are thus ena- 
bled to indicate the kind of effects produced 
in a series of experimenta with liodies ol 
Tariotts weights, sixes, and other qualities 
effeetiog Umit resytencea, when dropped 



16 



TUB COMING COMET. — HISTORICAL NOTICE, 



through the same distance. If taken in the 
order of their resistances, commencing with 
the highest, it wonid probably be found that 
several would have the same north deflection, 
after which the succeeding ones should de- 
crease until those having but small resistance 
exhibited south deflection from the plumb- 
line, the extreme limit of which must ap- 
proximate to that given by Mr. Rundell in 
his paper, under the circumstances there 
mentioned. The effect on the eastern de- 
viation cannot so readily be perceived with- 
out a few preliminary experiments. The 
variation in this, however, must be much 
less than that of the other. 

In recapitulating, then, we find that fall- 
ing bodies may have either north, south, 
east, or west deflection from the plumb- 
line ; and that the first two deflections may 
be combined with either of the latter two, 
and that each may exist separately or not at 
all, depending on the circumstances of height 
fedlen through, and the weight, size, and 
form of the bodies used. 

W. Sloogbtt. 
Devonport, June 24, 1848. 



THB COMING COMET. — HISTORICAL 
NOTICBt 

g?rom a Lecture upon the Science of Attronomf, 
vered by Mr. Henry AUhans, jun., before the 
Hackney Literary and Scientific Institution.] 

On the 5th day of March, 1556, this 
eccentric wanderer was first perceptible in 
the sign of Libra. Pursuing its celestial 
course with great velocity, it touched the 
left wing of the sign Virgo, passed below 
the knee of the constellation Bootes, whence 
it ascended to the north pole of the ecliptic 
(its inclination being 32 degrees 6 minutes) 
towards Andromeda, where it lingered, but 
receding towards the Northern Fish, it was 
there lost. Its perihelion (or nearest point 
to the sun) was passed on the 21st day of 
April, just two days previous to its final 
disappearance. Whilst it remained within 
the circle of those tropical stars which never 
set, the comet was visible idl night long ; 
and throughout its course, the apparent 
magnitude of the head was uniformly as 
large as Jupiter to the naked eye. Its mo- 
tion ran contrariwise to the succession of 
the Zodiacal signs, and within the space of 
four days, it completed seventy degrees west- 
ward, and thirty degrees northward, direct- 
ing ito path towards Saturn (then in Aries) 
but apparently slackening its speed as it 
approached that planet. At first its helio- 
centric motion was retrograde — at last 
direct. In the intermediate course it was 
most swift, despatching fifteen degrees daily. 
The nucleus (or body) presented the aspect 
of a bright globe of Q^e, equivalent to 



a half-moon, but the rays and colours varied 
and interchanged like the flickering of a 
flame agitated by the wind. The tail was 
moderately long and much attenuated ; at 
first presenting a martial aspect, but subae- 
quently dissolving into a pale and livid com- 
plexion : the stream of rays was denser near 
the head, and more rarified towards the ex- 
tremity of the tul, which at first pointed 
eastward, but as the comet mounted to the 
north, the train took a southerly direction. 

This eccentric member of the solar sys- 
tem has been conjectured to be identical 
with that mighty comet which startled 
Europe in the year 1264, so particularly de- 
scribed by Palseologus, Zuinger, Calvlsius, 
Matthew Paris, and other chroniclers of the 
period. That portentous visitant was first 
discernible near the sign Taurus, behind the 
planet Venus; and it raged during the 
whole summer season, until the 7th day of 
October. It was originally observed in the 
twilight of the evening, but speedily passing 
the sun on the 6th of July, at a rapid rate, 
(the place of its perihelion being 21 degrees 
of Capricorn,) it re-appeared shortly before 
the morning twilight towards the 8th degree 
of Cancer, whenee it retrograded very 
quickly into Gemini, threading its way be- 
tween Canis and Orion, but ultimately 
retreating into the latter constellation. Its 
movement from east to west was more than 
equal to 50 degrees of latitude, and hardly 
5 of longitude. The inclination of its para- 
bolic orbit to the ecliptic was 36^ degrees ; 
and the distance of its perihelion (that of 
the earth being 1) was 0*4450. At first it 
followed the morning star, but subsequently 
preceded that brilliant orb. The train or 
tail was very long and broad, resembling a 
fan in shape, emerging from the eastern 
horizon before the dimmer nucleus, and, 
when folly ascended, stretched itself up- 
wards, and shooting its rays to the meridian, 
the comet occupied in length one-half of 
the heavens, presenting a fearful apparition 
to the eye of the superstitious spectator. 
As it swept along through space, the tail 
diminished daily in breadth, but proportion- 
ately increased in length and brilliancy. 
Contemporary historians relate many terri- 
ble calamities as befalling the nations of 
Europe during the year 1264 ; among other 
strange coincidences, it is related in the 
lAM Chronicorttm (printed at Nuremberg, 
A.D. 1493,) and confirmed by other writers 
in the middle age, that on the occasion of 
the first appearance of this biasing star, the 
sovereign pontiff, Urban IV., was seized 
with an alarming distemper, which confined 
his holiness to his apartment daring the 
entire period that the comet prevailed ; and 
on the very night that the comet disappeared 



CAPTAIN spike's METHaD 07 HAlglNO SU19KEK V£6SrELS. 



IT 



the Pope expired. In 1556, itf appearance 
wms accompanied by similar strange snb- 
hinarf eTents. The Tictorions emperor, 
Charles V., to the amazement of the world, 
suddenly resigned the crowns of Germany 
and Spain, and betook himself to a monas- 
tery, where he shortly died. 

It was in a paper read before the Royal 
Sodety of London, abont the middle of the 
last century (eufe Philoi. TVaiw., vol. xMi.), 
that Mr. Dnnthome hasarded the supposi- 
tion that these two celestial strangers were 
identical — a eonjectnre also coantenanoed 
by the eminent French astronomer, M. de 
Lalande. This hypothesis has recently found 
a sanguine advocate in Mr. J. R. Hind, the 
discoTerer of the new aiitroid. Bat its return 
during the current year (1 848), although en- 
doraed by these high authorities, is yery 
problematieal ; for tiie cautious Dr. Halley 
has expressly indad^ the comet of 1556 
along with fire others concerning whose 
elements he was sceptical, as the observa- 
tions handed down by Paulus Fabricius and 
the older astronomers (which formed the 
basis of his computation) were neither made 
with good instruments nor mathematical 
precision, so that great difficulty was ex- 
perienced in harmonizing their conflicting 
accounts. Adequate allowance should also 
be made for the amount of the disturbing 
forces whidi this eccentric traveller may en- 
counter through its approximation to other 
heavenly bodies in its lengthened journey 
through the realms of space. Besides, we 
possess exsct details of its path only during 
one-fourth of the fifty days it waa last visi- 
ble. As for the elements of 1264, founded 
upon the Latin manuscript of a Dominican 
fiiar preserved in Pembroke-hall, Cam- 
bridge, they are open to grave exceptions, 
and form but a sandy foundation for the cal- 
culating astronomer of the nineteenth cen- 
tury.- Is there not also a palpable difference 
of several degrees between the elements of 
the two ? Considering, therefore, that the 
cometary revolutions are subject to extensive 
fluctuations, since these frail bodies are so 
susceptible of opposite attractions from 
powerful ne%hbouring orbs — weighing the 
difficulty of proving identity after a lapse 
of 292 years— and the laxity of previous 
observations ; — above all, reflecting that the 
orbita of only three of these singular bodies 
are satisfactorily settled, whereas probably 
800 appearances are known, and the ele- 
ments of neariy 100 recorded; — may we 
not reasonably pause, and, with the saga- 
cious Halley legitimately doubt, before 
yielding assent to a prediction, not wholly 
gratuitous, nor placed beyond the range of 
possibility, but yet depending too closely on 
ooDJectore, though seekiog to ally positive 



calculation and observation in its support ? 
But, in spite of mathematical discrepancies, 
imperfect instruments, and conflicting data, 
should the approach of this comet crown 
the other wonderful occurrences of this 
eventful year, it will afford another astrono- 
mical triumph ; as the comet will then have 
completed its twentieth revolution round the 
sun since the creation of the world. 



CAPTAIN spike's MBTBOO OF J&AI8INO 
SUNKEN VS88EL8. 

Sir,— -I am anxious to make some remarks 
upon the subject treated of in your last 
number, by your correspondent who signs 
himself ''A Landsman." The mode of 
raising the vessel by Captain Spike is per- 
fectly possible, simply on the supposition 
that she had no scupper-holes. In such a 
ease, the water outside would not be in free 
communication with that within her bul- 
warks, and, consequently, the holes alleged 
to have been bored would have had the effect 
attributed to them. You wiU observe, then, 
that I would qualify the statement in your 
editorial note, in so far as respects the 
assertion that the feat in question could 
" never have been accomplished under any 
possible state of circumstances." 

The question between your correspondent 
and his friend is one of fact — " Were there 
scuppers or were there not ? " and in default 
of positive evidence, I think we shall find 
the general appearances to be against the 
as8um,ption of " A Landsman." 

1st. Very few decked vessels have no 
scuppers. 

2nd. Especially if deep in the waist. 

3rd. The captain leada us to infer that 
there were scuppers, else it would have been 
unnecessary- to caulk the maln-hatch, or 
even to close it. At the same time, it may 
be urged that there is no mention of scuppers 
at all, as remarked* by your correspondent ; 
and that the combinga of the main hatch 
were unusudly high for a vessel with great 
sheer and scuppers. 

And, lastly, had there been scuppers, the 
fact of any water running from holes bored 
as stated, must have been not real, bat 
invented quite gratuitously. 

I am, Sir, yours, &c., . 

John Macokeoor. 

2i, Linooln's-inD-flelds, 

June 27, 1848. 
[We insert this letter out of respect to 
our esteemed correspondent, but eannot say, 
that we are at all shaken by it, in our con- 
viction of the soundness of the opinion we 
have expressed. Scuppers or no scuppers, 
there was, at all evenU, a free commu- 
nication, thiongh the main-hatchway, be- 



18 MA£TBT AND WBBb's PATBNT IMFBOVBMENT& IK DISTILLATXOK. 



twem tht water ontiida and inside; and, 
we repeat, that at long as that was the case, 
there ooeld be but one water-level common 
to both.— ETd. M. M.] 



CIRCULAR SAWING. 

An experiment was, by permission of 
the Lords Commissioners of the Admi- 
ralty, made at the Saw- mills, Woolwich 
Dockyard, on Saturday last, by Mr. 
James White, C.E., with the view of 
tesdng the efficiency of circular saws in 
cutting through the eentre of rough 
timber of a diameter nearly equal to that 
of the saw itself. 

An elm tree — one end of which was of 
the full diameter of the saw — was placed 
upon one of the circular sawing machines, 
having a saw 4 feet diameter, and a 
self-feeding motion, in the usual way. 
By this motion the tree was brought to- 
wards the saw, and passed over it ; and 
by a reverse motion, it was run back. 

The cot made in the tree, passing 
over the saw, was in dead wood all the 
way, and fully 20 inches deep. After 
^e tree was run back, it was turned 
over, and adjusted for a second cut to 
line with the firsts and in this position it 
was brought forward, as before, and 
completely divided in two. ^ 

The object of this experiment was to 
ascertain whether rough timber of a 
large size can be cut up in this way, and 
the result was quite conclusive in that 
respect. 

Lord Willoughby de Eresby was pre- 
sent, and took much interest in the 
•xperiment It is now his lordship's 
intention to adopt circular sawing for 
cutting up the timber upon his estate, 
either in the way described, or by placing 
(as suggested by his lordship) one saw 
above the other, and dividing the tree at 
one cut, to avoid the trouble of turning 
tbe tree over. 



MALTBT AND WBBb's PATXNT IMPBOVB- 
UBNTS IN DISTILLATION. 

[Patent dated December 15, 1847. Patentee!, 
'William Maltby, of Tredegar-square, and Thomas 
Webb, of Mare- street Hackney. Specification en- 
loUedJune 15, 1847.] 

The improvements described in this spe- 
cMoation relate, 

Firstly. To the preparation of grain prior 
to the employment of it for brewing or 
distiUing. 

Seeendly. To the additton of tartario or 



citrio add to the wort, or other saoohariao 
solatioDs. 

Thirdly. To the retaining of the prodacts 
or gases evolved during the process of fer- 
mentation, and causiog them to return into 
the solutions, in order to promote the said 
process. 

Fourthly. To the peculiar oonstmctioa 
and arrangement of apparatus, whereby the 
distillation is more rapidly and continuously 
effected, and the temperature of the alcoho* 
lie vapour so regulated, that spirit of almost 
any desired strength may he obtained. 

When the patentees operate upon bariey, 
they submit it to heat until it is deprived of 
about 12i per cent, of its weight, taking 
cars not to bum the grain ; they then grind 
it» add, when cold, 8 per eent. of its original 
^weight* of malt, and continue the brewing 
process after the usual manner. Next they 
mash it in a mash tun for half-an-hour, and 
. mix with it 4 lbs. of soda of eommerce die* 
solved in water to every one quarter of barley 
which has undergone the preceding proceaa, 
(should it not have undergone that processt 
3ilb8. of soda will be suflScient.) When 
the temperature of the wash has sunk to 80** 
Fah., yeast is added, to produce fermenta* 
tioD, the fermenting back is closed, tho 
refrigerator half filled with water, adding 
soda thereto, and the fermenting liquor 
stirred, by means of an agitator, every Aw9 
or six hours, until its specific gravity ia 
equal to or less than water. The patenteea 
then mix with the wort or solution oateehUf 
concentrated sulphuric add, or other add, 
in Buffident quantity to neutralise the soda* 
The wort, or wash, is now ready for use. 

Instead of adding the soda as hticm 
stated, a portion of the water in the rsfrigo- 
rator may be used, provided that it containa 
the requisite quantity of soda. 

When sugar is employed for the purpose 
of distilling spirit therefrom, a 100 lbs. of 
sugar are mixed with 100 gallons of water, 
adding 2 per oent. of yeast to cause fermeq« 
tation, and then soda, or carbonate of lioso, 
and aifterwards catechu, coneentimtcd anl* 
phuric add, or acetate of lead, in sufficieak 
quantity to neutralize the soda or oarboanto 
of lime. 

When molssses are employed, the smo 
methods as in the preceding ease are adopted 
When it is desired to obtain a very fine b«t 
peculiar spirit, the patentees add fib. of 
tartaric or dtric add (or the parts of thooe 
fruits which contain them), to every 1 ewt. of 
saccharine matter contained in the solutiottt 
and omit the use of soda or carbonate of 
lime. 

Hie apparatns referred to under the tUrd 
head consists of a fermenting back, throngfa 
the centre of whidi passes a hoiiiOBtol 



BUNH AND ELLIOTT 8 MA.CHINB FOR TISTINO CHAIR CABLES. 



19 



Mtt fumiflbed oa tlie outride 'with a handle 
for communicating motion. On the ihafti 
and inaide the fermenting back, are fai- 
teoed two fans, so that the one shall be in 
the same right line as, and a contiauation of 
the other. These fans are divided into cells 
by a number of ribs attached to those two 
4tf their four surfaces which come in contact 
with, and do not recede from, the liquor. 
lo or near to the centres of every other one 
of these cells, is a hole for the purpose of 
aBowiog the pasaage of the carbonic acid 
gaa. Commnnication is established between 
those cells which have holes and those which 
hiTB not by means of channels in the ribs. 
Above, and on one side of the fermenting 
back, is placed the refrigerator, in which is a 
worm or a coil of pipes communicating with 
the back. Communication is establifthed be- 
tween the refrigerator and the mash tun, 
and also between the latter and the ferment- 
h^ back.^' 

The apparatus for distilling by means of 
afeeom or'hot water, consists of the body of 
an ordinary still of either wood or metal, 
in which are placed shelves one above, and 
cquidiatant from each other. Upon the top 
iurfsce of each shelf is formed a chan- 
nel, open at top, of a convolute form, in 
which is placed a worm. The channels and 
worms on each shelf communicate one with 
the other. The wash which enters the still 
at top, ctrcnlatea through the ehannels on 
eaeh shelf suecessiyely, and in so doing 
comes in contact with the exterior surfaces 
of the worm, in which circulates steam (ad- 
■utted at the bottom of the still) whereby 
It is heated, and the alcoholic vapour dis- 
ongagod. In the head of the still is a 
worm, through which flows a stream of cold 
water, to be regulated at pleasure ; and be- 
tween the body and head of the still is a 
perforated plate for the purpose of spread- 
ing the alcoholic vapour which, passing up- 
wards and round about the worm, becomes 
by its oontact therewith, cooled. The alco- 
holic Taponr then passes into a receiver, 
snd aubaequently through other refrigerators 
to be pn^perly condensed. - The patentee^ 
itala, that by these means for regulating the 
temperature of the alcoholic vapour, they 
U% enabted to obtain spirits of almost any 
itQ^red strengdi. 

The patentees describe further, an ar- 
for ^iplying the used steam and 
i wash to the heating of the wash pre- 



vious to its entry into the still, and also in 
apparatus for straining it in its passaga 

thereto. 



• Altheiigb neither the object of this amtnge- 
meot ef apparatut ner the mode of working It 
la 4eterlbed ta the apeeification, it i« preaumed 
flMi,t the cartKmie add gaa ia to be eauaed to eacape 
(bmugfa the werm into the atmosphere, while any 
akobolic vapour which might aocompany the gaa 
would become condensed In the worm, and so 
letttm Into the baeltin a fluid state. 



DUNN ANO KLLIOTT'S MACHINE FOR 
TESTING CHAIN CAnLES. 

Messrs. Dunn and Elliott, of the Wind- 
sor-bridge Iron- works, Manchester, have 
lately invented a machine for testing chain 
cables, whioh is distinguished by great rim- 
plicity in its arrangement, and by whioh 
some important objects are more completely 
attained than by any previous invention. 
The machine has been made tor Measrs. 
Hingley and Sons, of the Cradley Chain* 
works, Worcestershire, and of Salthonse 
Dock, Liverpool. Hitherto those gentle- 
men, and other chain-cable manufacturers, 
have not possessed on the spot a sufficiently 
powerful testing machine ; and if their 
cables broke when tested at Liverpool, they 
Buffered all the cost of the carriage of tb« 
cables thither, and the expense of repair. 
This disadvantage is now obviated, and a 
perfect test of each chain will be made 
where the article is manufactured. Messrs. 
Dunn and Elliott's machine was tried at 
their works (the Windsor-bridge Iron-works) 
previously to its being sent to its destinatioa, 
in the j^sence of Mr.. Fothergill, of the 
firm or Roberts, Fothe|-gill, and Dobinson ; 
Mr. W. Maybum,. of the Ardwick Iron- 
works; Mr. Barlow, consulting engineer; 
Mr. Booth, manager of Messrs. Whitworth 
and Co.'s works ; and other engineers and 
machine makers. The opinion of theee 
gentlemen was highly favourable to its me- 
rits. The machine in question eonsists of a 
horizontal iron cylinder, 6 feet long, in which 
works a piston. At the end of the cylinder, 
and isontinuing in the same right line, is an 
iron trough, or pipe, which may be length- 
ened or contracted at pleasure. At the end 
of this trough are a p^r of iron claws, to 
which one end of the chain to be tested is 
fhstened ; the other end of the ehain is flu- 
tened to the end of the piston-rod, by simi- 
lar claws. The chain being thus fixed, is 
tested in the following manner :— Water is 
forced by a double hydraulic pump into tke 
eytinder, between the bottom of the piston 
and the water-tight end of the cylinder nest 
to the trough, which, of course, forces the 
piston to descend the cylinder, stretching 
and severely testing the chain, one end of 
which is attached to the piston-rod. The 
advantage of testing the chain by means of a 
hydraulic pump, over any other means of 
testing hitherto adopted, is, that a more 
gradual and constant increase of pres- 
sure is obtained ; and that, on acoeunt of 
the slightoat etasticity of water, there fi 



20 



THE WOOD PAVING PATENTS, 



not the severe rebound whicl), on dfcher 
arrangements, takes place when a heavy chain 
is broken at a very high preuure, and which 
ia Bon^etimes attended with aerioua injnry to 
the testing machinery, and with dangerous 
accidents to the bystanders. The trough 
by which the chain is being tested is shut in, 
which is a further precaution against acci- 
dent. The adaptation of the hydrauUc press 
to the purpose in question was not, howoTer, 
a novelty. The peculiar advantage of the 
new machine is the combination of the 
hydraulic press with a simple and effectual 
contrivance for accurately registering the 
pressure exerted upon the chain, which we 
■hall now describe. At the end of the 
cylinder, next the trough, and in its upper 
surface, is fixed a brass ram, working in a 
water-tight stuffing-box, and having its 
upper end connected with a scalebeam. The 
■calebeam, of course, rests on a support 
fixed upon the machine. When, therefore, 
the water is forced into the cylinder, the 
ram, it is clear, must be driven upwards, 
lifting the scalebeam with it ; and, by fixing 
different weights upon this, or sliding the 
same weight nearer or further from the ful- 
crum of the beam, as on a steelyard, the 
intensity of the pressure can be accurately 
measured. The gradual increase of weight 
arising from sliding the weight along the 
beam, combined with the gradually increas- 
ing pressure from the hydraulic press, gives, 
it will be at once seen, a total freedom from 
jerking, or from sudden straining in the 
testing. In order to get rid of the necessity 
of entering into minute calculations, as to 
the effect of the weight of the scalebeam, or 
the friction of the ram in the stuffing-box, 
the scalebeam is lengthened beyond the 
pivot, its two limbs beSig made to balance ; 
and upon the limb on which the ram does 
not act, and upon which the testing weight 
or weights are not placed, a small weight 
equal to this friction is placed. In the 
cable-testing machines to which the hydrau- 
Uc pressure has hitherto been applied, the 
lever for measuring the pressure has been 
annexed to the pnmp ; and consequently one 
most important element in the calculation, 
the frictbn of the water in the pipe from 
the pump to the cylinder, and in the cylin- 
der itself, has been totally omitted, or, at all 
events, has not been measured with the 
slightest approach to accuracy. The weight 
of the whole machine, not including the 
trough, is about 3 tons, its width about 5 
feet; the length, of course, is variable, de- 
pending upon the length of the chain which 
is being tested. It is capable of testing 
with any pressure, from ^ cwt. to 100 tons ; 
its cost is only about 200/. The corporation 
machine at Uverpool, whose testing power 



does not exceed that of Messrs. Dunn and 
Elliott's machine, cost 1000/., and is about 
six times the weight and three times the 
bulk of the machine we have been de- 
scribing. 

The above machine has been proved at 
the Cradley Chain-works. A chain cable, 
30 yards long, made from 1^ rounds of the 
regular quality of cable fron, by S. Even 
and Sons, bore the extraordinary weight of 
78 tons, being 28 tons above the regular 
proof reqmred at Lloyd's, and stretched 
4 feet in length before it could be broken, 
the power of the machine literally dragging 
the iron asunder.^^trmtii^AMi /ommai. 



THB WOOD PATINO FATSNTB. 

Court of QueeH*9 BaicA.— June 26, 1848. 
(Before Mr. Justice Wigtatman.) 

Huhi and Others v. B$daU and 0<A«r«.— This was 
an action brought for an inflringement of a patent 
for wood pavement, and breach of covenant. It 
appeared tbat several patents had been purchased 
by the plaintlfis to secure to themselves the right 
of using wooden blocks for the purpose of pave- 
ment. It f^irther nppeared that in the specification 
of one of these (Parkyn's) it was stated that the 
fibres of the wood should lie at an angle of from 
about 45 10 70 degrees. The defendants had 
taken a license from the plaintifb to use Par- 
kyn's inventi6n, but they had deviated from it ao 
far as to lay the blocks (at Cornhllland Chalk Farm) 
at 73 degrees of inclination. The plaintiffs now 
claimed at the rate of Gd. per sqnare yard,— 50/. Is. 
This demand was resisted, on the ground that 
what they had done did not come within the deed 
of license, which stated the limits to be between 
45 and 70 degrees. 

The learned judge said, that as the agreement 
was that the wood pavement, for which the de- 
fendants were to pay, distinctly stated that the io- 
clination of the fibre should range between 45 and 
70 degrees, boHi parties were bound by that agree- 
ment. 

The Jury, therefore, under the direction of 
the learned Judge, returned a verdict for the 
defendants. 

The Jury stated, however, that they conaldered 
the principle to be the a 



Note,-~Tht patent of Mr. Parkyn formed the 
subject of a former Judicial investigation, the 
result of which was equally unfayourable for Ita 
proprietors.— See report of Parkyn «. Harrison, 
keck. Mag., vol. xxxii., p. S53. The Vlee-Chaaeel- 
lor in that caae decided againat the patent, because 
the words " l^om about 45 to 70 degrees " were not 
sufflciedtly definite; while the patent on which the 
then defendent relied (that of Count de Lisle) wbs 
good, because he bound himself to the precise angle 
of 630, 26', 5"'8. A coroespondent (same vol., p. 
741.) observed on this that the pracUeal eflbet of 
that decision would be to upset both patenta ; 
for if the one was Ugallj/ bad for its indeflnlteoesa, 
and the other only legally good because It is ao 
wonderfully precise, then it must be open to all the 
world to use other angles as near to the speeifled 
angleiAs might be, as long as they were not identical 
with it ; "for angles of fiye degrees on either sUe 
of the patented one will make pavements Just aa 
good as it will." The view taken by our correspon- 
dent Is strikingly confirmed by the result of the 
present trial.— £d. M. M. 



NOTES AND NOTICES. 



21 



VOTES AHT) XOTICER. 

Magneto-Plating. — In our last number \sc stated 
tfaat magneto-plating wai the invention of the *' late 
Ut. Woolrich," of Birmingham. We finA that we 
were in error in thla respect, and that his son, Mr. 
John Stephen Woolrich, was the real inventor and 
patentee— 4he same gentleman of whom we spoke 
as now carrying on the invention. The late Mr. 
Woolrich was prohahly the first person who depo- 
sited metals for any practical purpose by means of 
the gBlvanic battery ; hut the magneto process was 
entirely his son's own invention. 

Spanimmeeut Combiution. — The American papers 
mention the loss by fire, occasioned by spontaneous 
combostion, of the brig Canningt at Port Famine. 
She was laden with nitrate of soda. The layers of 
bags which contained the soda, on being reached by 
the fire, exploded in succession, with reports 
Tesembling the discharge of artillery. 

New Screw Cutting Machine.^ A plan of cutting 
iron screws is stated to have been invented by P. Vf. 
Gates, Esq., of Chicago, Illinois, by which the power 
of one man will cut per day, 700 half-inch, 500 three- 

Sarter inch« -lOO one inch, and 300 one and a half 
:h bolts. The advantages claimed for this plan 
over the common die, are its despatch in doing 
work ; its durability, having cut over 4000 bolts 
with one die, without any repairs ; instead of Jam- 
miug or driving the thread into shape it cuts it out, 
the same as in a lathe, leaving the thread of solid 
iron, which cannot be stripped off* as is usual with 
those eat by the common die, and it will do the 
work by once passing along the bolt, making the 
thread perfect. The die, it is said, can be made by 
ordinary workmen, with far less expense than the 
common die, and when made, is not at all liable 
to get ont of repair. 

The Inventor of the Tmbvlar Bridges.— A contro- 
versy has sprang up as to the respective claims of 
Mr. Fairbaim and Mr. Robert Stephenson to the 
high bonoor of having first originated the idea of 
the tabular bridges. Mr. Bateman has appeared as 
the warm partisan of Mr. Fairbaim, and insists 
that Mr. Robert Stephenson played only second 
fiddle to him. Mr. Stephenson thus vindicates his 
own claims in reply :— " My attention having been 
drawn to a letter from Mr. Bateman on the subject 
of the tabular bridges at Conway and the Menai 
Straits, of which the merit is, without scruple, arro- 
gated to Mr. Fairbaim, I beg to annex an extract 
firom a letter to me from the latter gentleman, 
dated the 27th of October, 1846:— 'I am much 
obliged by voor letter of yesterday, and especially 
that part of it which relates to the original idea of 
the bridge. / am sure it was nours in every respect ; 
but there is nothing new, or likely to turn out valu- 
able, but there immediately start up a hundred 
claimaats. We are all subject to this mental en- 
croachment; but in your case everything is now 
clear. At all events, you may rest assured of my 
best eiforts in supporting the claim to which you 
are so Justly entitled.' This extract shows suffl- 
eiently Mr. Fairbaim's feeling at the time when his 
letter was written, which was sabsequent to the 
passing of the Act; and I will only add to it, that I 
have never attempted in any way to detract from 
the merits of anv party connected with the work, 
but have always freely acknowledged the valuable 
assistance which has been afforded to me during its 

Srogress by Mr. Fairbaim, Mr. Hodgkinson, and 
It. Clark ; but that Mr. Fairbaim devised, or had 
charge of the entire construction, is simply a mis- 
statement of lacts. He, in common with the other 
two gentlemen namM, aided me by his advice, and 
I acted upon it, or otherwise, as 1 thought proper. 
The company looked to me as alone responsible ; 
and in my discretion every other party who has 
been concerned in the progress of these bridges was 
ennged.— RoBT. Stephenson." 

Pension to Mr. /. P. Adams.'^A pension of £200 
per annum has been most deservedly conferred by 
Goveraroent on Mr. Adami, the English difcoverer 
of the planet Neptune, 



GuUa PiTcAtf.— The trade in this article se»m9 to 
be advancing in importance every day, and to be 
engrossing the attention of the natives of the Indian 
Archipelago, to the exclusion of other pursuits. 
The quantity imported into Singapore in the first 
four months of this year, accor<iing to the ofhclal 
reports, was upwards of 700 piculs, equal to 82u 
cwts., which is, however, short of the actual supply. 
The price had risen from 12 dollars to 20 dollars. 
It is said that the American I^ngat Tin Company 
have secured the monopoly of the gutta of the 
Salangore territory for two yearf>, for the sum of 
30,000 dollars. 

Public Pastenger Time-Slgnal for Railway Sta- 
tions. — A great want has long been felt for some 
certain and etfectlve means of informing or warning 
the public of the approaching departure of passen- 
ger trains. Bells rung within or near the station 
cannot ensure this purpose, the sound being easily • 
stifled, and apt to bo regarded, besides, as a 
nuisance. Clocks are still more useless, as they 
are visible only at short distances, even where they 
can be placed in conspicuous positions. The re- 

Suisite machine, we are happy to say, has now been 
evised and brought into huccessful operation. It 
consists simply of a lofty pillar, with a moveable 
ball, which drops, within a limited space of time, 
from the top to the bottom, and, as it descends, 
indicates exactly the time which is to elapse before 
the train sets on. Being a most conspicuous object, 
it is distinguished at a considerable distance by 
intending passengers, who are thereby saved all 
unnecessary hurry and excitement in making their 
way to the station. The North British Company 
have erected one of these signals at the Portobello 
Station ; and we understand that it has proved a 
great comfort and relief to the inhabitants. Every 
station of any importance ought to be provided with 
a similar apparatus, the cost of which is inslgniti- 
cant, considering its real and constant utility, ond 
the prevention of annoyance, both to the company's 
servants and the public, which it secures. We are 
sure that the least of the inventor's objects is the 
mere pecuniary profit which may accrue from this 
ingenious instrument, and we have therefore the 
less hesitation in calling the attention of railway 
managers to its undoubted merit and usefulness.-^ 
Scottish Railway Gazette. 

An Brpantible Currency. — One dollar bills of the 
New Haven County Bank, U. S., are issued, com- 
posed of paper made of India-rubber. This is the 
most expansible kind of paper currency known, 
and is admirably adapted to such banking institu- 
tions as desire to "stretch their credit.**— ^«ericflf» 
Paper. 

The Carpet Mannfactute in America.— -Th^ most 
extensive manufactories in the United States are at 
Thompsonvillc; they use 10,000,000 lbs. of wool, 
and 10,000 lbs. of flax yarn per annum. They 
manufacture three-ply Brussels and, Axminster 
carpeting of the richest patterns, the weaving being 
mostly done at present on hand lounis, they are, 
however, about mtroduciog pOwer looms into this 
factory for weaving rugs and Axminster carpets. 
The wool for Axminster carpetin;; is first woven in 
a web, and afterwards cut in stiips forming what 
is called chenniele card ; this is done upon a ma- 
chine invented by Messrs. Davidson and Parks, of 
Springfield, Vermont, which is the first and only 
one of the kind in the United States, and has more 
than paid for itself in six months. This machine 
has over 200 cutters, or knives, \\hi?h are attached 
to a cylincJcr, making some 300 revolutions, and 
cutting full two yards of the veb per minute into 
strips, which beinR parsed over a grooved cylinder 
heated by having hot irons insertt d within it, it is 
prepared for weaving. Besiucs the large carpet 
establishment, there is in this village a factory 160 
by 43 feet on the group, and five stories high, for 
the manufacture of knit shirts, drawers, and fancy 
ginghams, this establishment h.ns about 30 sets of 
wool cards, and 25 or 30 gingham loomf, ^~ScientiJlG 
American, 



M 



ADVSRTI8BMSKT8. 



Softening Iwrg.^** Can jron inform me of any me 
tnod or softening iyoryr There irai a persoo in 
ShelBeld, about twenty years ago, who discoTered 
a method of rendering ivory sutBciently soft to 
take any impression; but whether be ever pa- 
tented It or not, or whether it was ever published, 
I eannot tell. He is now dead, and the process 
anpears to have died with hhn. It has been 
•Uted in the FamUp Herald, * that dilute nitric 
aeid has the property of softening ivory;* but I 
think this is a mistake. I have tried it in various 



ways, but can make nothbg of it If you ootild 
put me in the right way, 1 should feel extremely 
obliged.— Y. X., Sheftield."— Ivoiy may be w- 
tened by any caustic alkali, but not so as to be of 
any use afterwards. To soften is. in Itet, to 
decompose and destroy it. According to all past 
Imowledge and experience, it does not admu of 
being either moulded or embossed, like horn aad 
tortoise-shell; and we very much doubt, thero- 
fore, the correctness of our correspondent's story 
about the man in Sheffield and his lost secret. 



WSBKLT LIST OF NBW BNOLISH PATBNT8. 



Deane Samuel Walker, of London-bridge, mer- 
chant, for improvements in the manufacture of 
band or straps for hats, caps, shoes, and stocks. 
Jane 24 ; six months. 

Henry Archer, of Shaftesbury-crescent, Plmllco, 
Middlesex, gentleman, for improvements In matches 
and in the production of ll^t, and in the apparatus 
to be used therewith. June 24; six months. 

William Hunt, of Dodderhill, Worcester, chemist, 
for improvements in obtaining certain metals ftom 
certain compounds containing these metals, and in 
obtaining other products by the use of certain 
compounds containing metals. June 24 ; six 
months. 



Richard Clark, of the Strand, Westminster, lamp 
manufacturer, for certain improvmnents in gaa- 
burners, and in candle-lamps and other lamps. 
June 26; six months. «r^ 

Frederick William Mowbray, of Leicestar, papor 
dealer, for improvements In the mannfafture of 
looped fabrics. June 27; six months. 

John Macintosh, of Glasgow, gentleman, for im- 
provements in obtaining motive power. Jiuie 2i; 
six months. 

Joseph Skercthley, of Anstey, Leicestershire, gen- 
tleman, for improvements in bricks and in the 
manufacture of tobacco-pipes and other liJu MtlciM. 
June SO; sixmoniha. 



WBBKLY LIST OF DI8IOK8 FOE A&TIOLSS OF VTILITT RBOI8TBEBD. 



Date of No. in 
Reglstra- the Ra- 
tion, gister. 
June 22 1478 
2S 1470 
» 1480 

its 1481 



Proprietors' Names. Addresses. Subjects of DetlgDl. 

Thomas Lopling Bishop Wearmoutb, Durham.... Mangle. 

John Peterson, Cheapside Waist belt. 

Woods and Thomas .... Cheapside «... Rotary postage stamp 

gum ticket damper. 
Frederick Harris Wood -street «...>•« Ticket pin. 



aUberttsseuuntiESe 



BIECHANZCS' MAGASONE. 

On the 1st July, Vol. XLVIH., complete, price, cloth and lettered. 7#. 

" The MECHANICS' MAGAZINE has conferred lasting advantages on the Manufactures of the i 
ixy.**^R0pariof Select Committee of the House of Commons on the ArU of Design. 
MECHANICS' MAGAZINE, PATENT AND DESIGNS REGISTRATION OFFICE, IM, Fleet-ttreet. 



To Mathematical Inatmment Makers^ ClockmakerSf Are. 

"POR SALE.— A very Superior CLOCK-CUTTING ENGINE. BuiUble for Cutting Turrett Clock- wheels, 
•^ with Parallel Motion for Cutter Frame. The Plate is H inches diameter, with 16 numbers divided 
on it. It is accurately cut on the outer edge to the number of 400; it is also corrected by a laborious 
method, and has a most accurate Tangent-screw, with an apparatus that can be readily set to cut asf 
number of teeth below 400. The number on the outer edge of the Plate and Tangent-screw are ssfl- 
ciently accurate to diiide Circles, auadrauts, or such instruments. 

The above Instrument, in consequence of the owner haviu}; no farther use for it, will be sold a Baiyaln, 
and may be seen on application to Mr. James Wood, 101, Mitchell-street. 

Glasgow, June 28, 1848. 



To engineers and Boiler-Makers. 

T\AP. WELDED IRON TUBES, FOR MARINE A?iD LOCOMOTIVE STEAM-BOILERS, Tubes 
for Steam, Gp.9. and other purposes:— all sirts of Gas Fittings. The Birmingham Patent Iron 
Tube Conopany, 42. (*a nbrid;^e-street, Birmini^dam, and Snitthwicn, Staffordshire, manotaeture Bollen 
and Ga« Tubes, under an exclusive License from Mr. Riciiard Prosser, the Patentee. 

These Tubes are extensively used In the Boilers of ^farinc and Locomotive Steam Engines in 
England and on the Continent;— .ire Stronger, Lighter, Cheaper, and more Durable tban Brass or 
Cepper Tubes, and are warranted not to open in the weld. 

42, CAMOlllDGE-STRBET, CRESCENT, BIRMINGHAM. 

Works— Smeth wick, BtafTordshire. 

LONDON WAREHOUSE— Ne. 68, UPPER THAMES-STREET. 



ABVSRTMSMSNTfl. 2S 

CniTTA PBRCHA COMPAXnrS WORKS« 

WHARF ROAD, CITY ROAD, 

London, Ut Jpril, 1848. 
PpHS OUTTA PERCH A COMPANY have freat pleasure !n stating that the steadOy increasing demand 
* for tha Patsht Gvtta Pxbcha Dkitiko Bands justifies the utmost confidence that they are ftiUy 

^Tliair doabOl^ and stTength— permanent contractility and uniformity of suhstance— their non-suseep- 
tAIUty of Inimj from eontact with Oils, Grease, Acids, Alkalies, or Water— and the facility with which the 
•tnfle joint required can be made in Bands of any length— render them supeiior for almost all working 
ipm i u oos, and doeidedly economical. 

GouiORa, TuBim of all sizes, Bouoxxs, Catbet£K8,Steths8copss, and other Surgical Instruments; 
llo«u>nie« roK Picnnut FnAMBs and other decorative purposes; Whips, Thovos; Tsxwxs, Qohr, and 
Cftxous Bai.!*, ftc.| in great Taritty. 

Pfttent Gutta Percha Shoe Soles. 

The applicability of Gntta Percha Soles for Boots and Shoes having been extensively and satisfutorily 
tssced, we ean nnhesiutingly recommend the material prepared for this purpose, its meriU having been 
aekaowledgod by all who have tried it. Indeed, experience has proved that Gutta Percha Soles wear twice 
as long aa leather, with great additional personal comfort; and they remain perfectly impervious to wet 
OBtfl quit* worn through. 

Boot and Shoe Soles for Sununer "Wear* 

TtM flwt of the total imperviousness of these Soles to water, enables the most delicate, by the use of 
then, to osd^io the suffering which the proverbial uncertidnty of our climate, zvxw is Sdmhsr, so often 
inileta upon the incautious, and this effect may be secxired by a Sole so thin and light, as to afford to the 
wearer a degree of ease and comfort hitherto unattainable, in conjunction with security against damp. 

Atiketawu Ifoitf, the remarkable non-conducting propertiee of Guita Percha afford a moet tfAtuable pr<y 
teeUam fo f4«M who are eubjected to suffering or ineonveuience by walking upon heated pavemenie. 

The qoestioD of the durability of Gutta Percha Soles, as compared with Leather, has long since been 
deefded in fovour of the former; and no Instance of failure has yet cone to tne kno^r- 
ledffe of tli« Compaaar which laaj not be aacrihed to a neslect of their printed 



Testimonials relatinp; to Shoe Soles. 

" or an the ditooTeries and inventions which have hitherto been brought Into notice for the purpose of 
preaerring the feet from damp, nothing Is comparable, either in cheapness or efficiency, to Gutta PeKha. 
Gaidenon eepeeially, whose daily occupations occasion them to be much in the open air, and working or 
standing on wet ground, will find this pliable and simple substance of infinite value. The natural caution 
which one usually feels with respect to new things, especially when they come very highly recommended, 
prevented us from listening with much attention to what we regarded as pretended excellencies. We were, 
ikowever. Induced to make the trial of a pair of ' Gutta Percha Soles,' and after the experiment of betwixt 
two and tliree months of daily wear, we think it right, for the sake of others, to say the Gutta Percha Soles 
•re, fbr dryncas and warmness to the feet, incomparable to anything we have ever tried. In point of dura- 
bility, it is equal, and, we think, euperior to leather."— Gardenerf* and Farmers' Journal, February 12, 

(Copy.) — — Lowndes-street, 12tb November, 1847. 

Mt dsak Sra, — I have for some time worn the Gutta Percha Soles, and am very happy to bear testi- 
mony to the admirable qualities of this substance for the purpose of Shoo-making, for it Is not only very 
durable, but perfectly impervious to wet. 

The Gutta Pereka, I find, possesses profvrties which render it invaluable for winter shoes. Jt is, cont- 
pared mitk Leather, a slaw conductor of heat ; the effect of this is, that the warmth of the feet is retained, 
however cold the surface may be on which the person stands, and that clammy dampness, so objectionable 
In the wear of India Rubber shoes, is entirely prevented. On fir^t using Gutta Percha shoes, the wearer 
ia forcibly struck with the superior warmth and comfort which is produced by this non-conduotiug property, 
and I confidently predict that all those who try Gutta Percha will be steady rustomers.— I am, my dear 
flir, very truly yours, JAMES C. CUMMING, M.D. 

To C. Haneook, Bsq., the Gotta Peroha Company. • 

GxxTX.XMSir, — I have given the Gutta Percha Boot Soles what may be considered a fair trial ; namely, 
three months' constant wear on a rough gravelly road, and can bear testimony to its usefulness : vt/A proper 
cmre inputting them on, and a little attention afterwards, I am persuaded it will last longer than leather, 
and, being impervious to wet, will be found invaluable to persons subject to damp er cold feet. W. DIAR, 

Korember 4th, 1847. Principal Officer U. M. Customs, Whitstabie. 

{Copy.) Manchester, 1st Karch, 1844. 

8ia,— In the month of August last I began to wear a pair of GutlaPercba Boles, put on by my father, 
who is a ahoemaker. No. Id, Port-street, and have worn them every day since, being upwards of six 
months, and 1 am certain that, if the upper leathers were not worn out, the soles would wear a month 
longer. They have out* worn three pairs of heels, which had strong iron nails beat in.— Yours, &c., 
(Signed) ALFRED LAMB, 

Porter at Findlater and Mackie's, Exchange Arcade, Manchester. 
To Mr. Henry Statham, 11, Corporation- street. 

(Copy.) Manchester, 8th March, 1848. 

Sia,— It is with pleasure that I bear testimony to the good qualities of Guila Percha Soles. You are 
aware that my occupation requires me to be on foot a great deal upon all kinds of roads and in all weathers 
and ftinee I l>egan to iftcar Gutta Percha Soles, I have n'^t had to complain of wet oi cold feet : the pnir I 
have on now have been in almost daily use for more than lour months, and try fear i& that the upper 
leathers will be worn out first. 1 am quite sure that I save trom thirt> to fifty per cent, in the cost of 
•hoet, in consequence of my family wearing Gutta Percha Soics, and, so long as 1 can get them, I intend to 
woar them in prafereneo to anything ehe 1 have seen.— Yours respoetfuliy, THOMAS WHITEHEAD. 

To Mi. Henry Statham, 11, CorporaUoa- street. Oaa Office, Town Hall, King-street. 



24 



JkOT^RTMBMBNITB. 



To Iii^«tttor« Mid Patentees. , 

MESSRS. ROBERTSON & CO., 

PATENT SOLICITORS, 

(Of Which am Mr. J.. C. ROBERTSON, the 
EniTOR of the Mbchanics* Magazikb from Its 
commencement in 1823, is principal parlner,) 

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• COPPER-WIRE CORD for WINDOW SASH 
LINES. Hot-houses, Lightning Conductors, Hang- 
Ins pictures. Clock-cord, and various other purposes 
for which hempen rope has hitherto been used. This 
new and valuable Patent Is fast superseding the use 
of the hempen cord, snd Is strongly recommended 
to all Builders and other parties connected with 
the above. The Wire-cord may be had wholesale, 
and specimens seen at the Office of the Patentees, 
No. 163, Fenchurch-street, W. T. ALLEN, Agent, 
or retail of G. and J. DEANE, 46, King Willlam- 
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CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER. 
On Breakwaters Composed of VertlcarPloats. 
By Llentenant-Colonel Yule, R.E.— (iwtt 

engravittgM) ** 1 

Mathematical Periodicals. By Thomas Wil- 
kinson, Esq.- (conW»««d) 5 

Mr. Marrat and Sir Joseph Banks ^ i» 

Description of Rishton's Improved Vinery 

'Bnme-^Vfiih engraving*) «...«.... 8 

On the Effect of Superincumbent Pressure as 
Regards the Question whether Sea Walls 
should be Sloping or Vertical. By Hugh 

M*Cormac, Esq., M.D 9 

Notes on the Theory of Algebraic Equations. 
By James Cockle, Esq., M.A., Barrlster-at- 

law— (co»««««f) ' 

The Wave Principle in Shipbuilding.— Lecture 

by Mr. Scott RusseU 

Description of Messrs. Groves and Son's Double 

File-handle— (icKA «»^ffp<n^*) 1* 

Description of Dodds's RaU-straightenlng Ma- 
chine— (iwM engravings) ..w 

On the Deviation of Falling Bodies lh>m the 

Perpendicular. By W. Sloggett, Esq 

The Coming Comet.— Historical Notice. By 

Mr. Henry Althans 

Capttfn Spike's Method of Raising Sunken 
Vessels. By John Macgregor, Esq....^...... 

Experiment in Circular Sawing.^ By Jamea 

White, Esq., C.E 

Maltby and Webb's Patent Improvements in 

Distillation 

Messrs. Dunn and Elliott's Machine for Test- 
ing Chain Cables... 

The Wood Paving Patents.— Hulse and Others 

V. Esdale and Others 20 

Magneto-Plating— Spontaneous Combustion- 
New Screw Cutting Machine— The Inventor 
of the Tubular Bridges— Pension to Mr. J. 
P Adsms— Guttapercha— Public Passenger 
Time-signal for Railway Stat Ions— An Exan- 
slble Currency- The Carpet Manufacture in 

America ** 

. Softening Ivory *2 

Weekly List of New EnglUh Patents 22 

Weekly List of New Articles of Utility Regis- 
tered - '- ** 

Advertisements 622 



10 



11 



12 



IS 



17 



19 



LONDON: Edited, Printed, and Published, by 
Joseph Clintoj» Robertson, of No. 166, Fleet- 
street, In the City of London.— Sold by A. and 
Yf. Gallgnanl, Rue Vlvlenne, Paris; Machin and 
Go. Dublin ; W. C. Campbell and Co., Hamburgh. 



MUSEUM, REGISTER, JOURNAL, ANI>GAZETTE. 

No. 1300.] SATURDAY JULY 8, 1848. [Price 3d,, Stamped, id. 

SdUcd bf J. C. Robtrt<oB. 116, nect-ttr«et. 

THE MODEL PRISON SYSTEM OF VENTILATION AND WARMING. 

Pig. 5. 








VOL. XLIX. 



26 



WISC&IPTIOK or THE 8T8TBM OF YBNTILATIOK AND WA&lf INO ADOPTBD AT TBS MOOBlf 

PRI80K, PKNTONYILLB. 

[From Repqrt nf LieutonAnt-Colonel Jebb, R. E., Sorvayor General of Prisoni.] 



Ventilation, 
'^ Thb TentilatioQ of a cell cannot fail to 
have a direct inflaence on the health of a 
prisoner, and it is therefore one of the most 
important objects connected with the con- 
straction of prisons. 

The necessity of resorting to an artificial 
system for a regalar supply of fresh air at 
all times and seasons will be apparent when 
it is considered that, in order to prevent 
oommnnlcation between prisoners in adjoin- 
ing cells, it is necessary that the windows 
should be fixtures, and the doors generally 
closed. 

The main objects to be attained may be 
thus stated : 

1st. The withdrawal of a stated quantity 
of foul air from each cell. 

2nd. The supply of an equal quantity of 
fresh air into each cell without subjecting 
the occupier to the prejudicial effect of a 
draught. 

3rd. The means of warming the fresh air 
when necessary, without injuring its quali- 
ties or affecting its hygrometrical condition. 
4th. That no additional facilities for the 
transmission of sound should be afforded by 
the air-channels or flues. 

The general disposition of the flues and 
apparatus for effecting the several objects 
proposed will be best understood by referring 
to the accompanying figures. 

An appartttos for warming the air, when 
required, is generally placed in the centre of 
the basement story. This apparatus con- 
sists of a case or boiler, to which a propor- 
tion of pipes, adapted for the circulation of 
hot water, are attached. In connection 
with it there is a large flue open to the 
external atmosphere. 

The fresh air introduced through this 
opening, after passing over the surface of 
the boiler, turns right and left along a main 
flue, CD, which runs horizontally under the 
floor of the corridor, and from thence passes 
upwards through small flues. A, B, C, pre- 
serred in the corridor wall, which terminate 
respectiTely in a grating placed close under 
the arched ceiling of each cell on the three 
stories (see figs. 2, 3, and 5.) 

A current of air may thus be introduced 
from the exterior into each cell ; and it is 
obvious that it may be warmed or left at its 
natural temperature, as circumstances re- 
quire. 

This channel for the introduction of fresh 
air would, however, be of little avail in fur- 
nishing the supply required, unless corre- 
spondiag arrangements were made forextract* 



ing the foul air from the cells, which, under 
ordinary circumstances, is the first move- 
ment that will take place. The disposition 
of the flues and shaft for this purpose will 
be noticed in the figures. 

A grating is placed close to the floor of 
each cell, on the side next the outer wall, 
and diagonally opposite to the point where 
the firesh air is introduced (see D, E, figs. 1* 
and 4.) This grating covers a flue in the 
outer wall, opening at its upper extremity 
into a horizontal foul- air flue in the roof, 
which communicates with a vertical shaft 
raised 20 or 25 feet above the ridge. 

It will thus be seen that a communicatioii 
is established first from the outer air through 
the warming apparatus to the top of each ^ 

cell, and thence from the floor of each cell 
upwards through the extracting flues and 
ventilating shaft into the outer air again. 
By this arrangement the total lengths of 
each pair of flues respectively made use of 
for extracting foul air from the cells, and 
introducing fresh air into them, are rendered 
nearly equal on all the stories— thus pro- 
moting uniformity of action. 

Objections may be urged against the prin- 
ciple of making the point of entry of the 
fresh air at the top of the cells, and extract- > 
ing the foul air from the lower level, and, as 
an abstract matter of science, it msy possibly 
be a question whether this order should not 
have been reversed. 

Dr. Reid's opinion on the subject is thus 
stated in a letter to Viscount Dnncannon, 
with reference to the arrangements for ven- 
tilating the House of Commons. 

" Tlie air may be made to descend from 
the ceiling, and be removed by the floor. ^ 

I know no method that combines eo many 
and 90 numeroui advantoffea as this. Ex- 
perience has assured me that there is no 
method at all comparable to the deeeending 
atmoephere for the ^ouse of Commons. 
Even the suspicion of dust would not then 
annoy the members. The air can be ad- 
mitted at any temperature, its first impulse 
being eqftened by the air on which it/alU," 
When, however, it is considered that the 
cells contain 800 cubic feet of space, and are 
occupied by only one individual; that a 
ventilation of from 30 to 40 cubic feet per 
minute has been secured, at a cost daring 
the winter months of less than a farthing . 

per cell, and during the summer at half that ; 

eipense ; and that a perfect diffusion of air 
takes place within the cell ; it will be appm- 

• Fig. I wUl be given with the continuatioQ in 
our next. 



THK MO]>BL PRT80K SYSTEM OF TlNTtLATlOK AND WARICIVO. 



27 



Tnt ^ait there ii no object in laerificing 
other important and practical considerations 
to aof refined reasoning on that point. 

It will be seen, also, that the cucendinff 
principle of yentilation of the entire sys- 
tem is preserfed, and that the extraction of 
fonl air from the cells is partly to be re- 
ferred to the superior altitude of the eztracU 



ing flues and shaft, which are in and above 
the roof. If the foul air were required to 
pass downwards, below the floor of the 
cells, into flues situated in the basement, a 
power must be maintained in constant opera- 
tion to ofercome the tendency of air at a 
higher temperature to remain at a higher 
leyel. The ventilation in such a ease would 



Fig. 2. 




^ «atirelj/orce<f ; whereas, by the arrange- 
ments which have been described, it only 
requires to be ctagUted. From the diffusion 
which takes place, the difference of tem- 
perature at the oeiUng or floor of a cell can 
icarcely be detected, and will seldom ex- 
ceed one degree; and it may be mferred 



that the difference of power required for 
extracting the air at one or other of those 
levels would be inappreciable. But even if 
it led to an increased expense in the con- 
sumption of fuel, it would be an object to 
check the rising of dust, and to secure the 
advantage of introducing the air at a point 
o2 



28 



TUB M0D1EL PRISON SYSTEM OF VENTILATION AND WARMING 



not etsily accessible to the prisoner, and 
from which he would not be likely to ex- 
perience any inconvenience. Fig* 4. 



Among other reasons, it may be stated 
that the effect of introducing the air at a 
low level would be, that when tkt fires were 




not lighted, the prisoner would be sensible 
of the draught of cold air, and would de- 
vise some means of stopping up the grating ; 
and daring the cold weather when the air 
would be warmed, he would probably sit or 
lie down close to it, and be enervated by its 
effecu. 

Having thus given a brief and familiar 
explanation of the principle applied, and the 
disposition of the flues for ventilation, the 
application of the motive power, by which 
the regular abstraction of the foul air from 



THE MODEL PRISON 6YSTKM OF VENTILATION AND WARMING. 



29 



the oeUf, and a snpply of fresh air in iU 

place, ia insuredy will be easily understood. 

Fig. 6\ 




Tbe main floea in the roof intended for 
the eztnction of foni air from the cells, are 
connected with the vertical shaft which ap- 
pears in the section, fig. 1. During the 
somnier aaonths a small fire is maintained 
at the bottom of this shaft, which raises the 
temperature of the colnmn of air within it 
aboTe that of the external atmosphere, or 
the general temperature of the cells, and 
therd>j caoses it to be spedilcally lighter. 
Kg. 7. 




In this state it naftnraUy rises, and the 
partial raennm tiins formed is filled firom 
the a4Jofaiing fonl-air fines. These main 
fioes deriTe their supply directly from the 
eells» and the cells reoeiye through the 
proper channels a corresponding supply of 
fresli air to replace the foul air which has 
boon abi^acted by the Terticai shaft 

The quantity of foul air withdrawn from 
the oeDs will mainly depend upon the pro- . 
portionate temperature maintained in the 
ventilating shaft. Under ordinary circum- 
ttanees, if an average difference of from 5° 
to KP above the external temperature be 
maintained, it will be found suffioient to pro- 
duce the desired effect. The consumption 
of fori for this purpose at Pentonville pri- 
lon has been about one hundred wdght per 
diem for one wing, containing 130 cells, it 
having been the practice to light the fire, of 
which there is. one on each side of the cor- 



ridor, on alternate days. The cost of effect- 
ing the summer ventilation of one wing, at 
the present price of fuel, has been about 
fifteen pence per diem, or about one-eighth 
of a penny for each cell. 

During the winter months, when the fires 
are lighted in the apparatus below, the 
smoke and disposable heat being thrown 
into the ventilating shaft above Uie upper 
cells, will generally be found sufficient to 
secure an effective ventilation, and no fur- 
ther trouble or expense is necessary. 

The principle on which the ventihition is 
effected is similar to that in operation in 
mines, the ventilating chimney being sub- 
stituted for the upcast shaft. There are, 
however, greater fseilities for maintaining a 
current of air through any given channels 
above ground, Ihan can possibly exist in the 
extended and complicated galleries of a coal 
field, situated many hundred feet below the 
surface. 

In the foregoing explanation it has been 
assumed that the atmosphere, both within 
and without the prison, is stagnant, and no 
allowance has been made for the advantage 
derived from the pressure of the air at & 
point where it enten the ^uea, wliieh, even 
in a moderate breeze, has a very favourable 
influence in producing a more active ehren- 
lation. These combing causes, though they 
cannot, of course, always be depended on 
for producing ventilation, will greatly assist 
it, and the action of a very moderate fire 
will, under any circumstances, ensure it. 

DeMcripHcn of the Figures. 

Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5 show the sys- 
tem of ventilating and warminff now 
actually in operation at the Model Prison, 
and which baa been sneoeasfallv adopted 
in all the principal prisons lately erected 
under the authority of the Secretary of 
State. 

Fig. 2 18 a plan of the basement; fig. 3, 
a grand plan ; fig. 4, a plan of the roof; 
and fig. 5, a longitudinal section of part 
of the corridor. 

P is the apparatus room. 

A, fresher flues, open to the external 
atmosphere. 

G D, fresh-air flues. 

A\ B, C, small fresh-air- flues. 

C» C», cells. 

F F, foul-air flues. 

M F, main foul- air flues. 

S S, smoke flues. 

F S, foul-air shaft. 

R, corridor. 

LL, places for coal. 

T (6g. 3) trap. 



90 



ON A CERTAIN ARABIC MANUSCRIPT. 



Fig. 6 repreBCDts the details of a regu- 
lator, as fixed at Pentonville, by which a 
prisoner is enabled to admit warm air 
from the main flues, or cool air from the 
.5orridor. C* is the corridor; C, the 
cell. 

Fig. 6' is an elevation of the regula- 
tor, as seen in the corridor. 

Fig. 7 represents a contrivance for the 
same purpose, which has been adopted 
at Kirkdale ; I P is the indez*plate. Fig. 
7* is an elevation of this regulator, as 
seen in the corridor. 

Fig. 8 shows the means by which cold 
air may be admitted into a cell from the 
exterior, and also a plan for increasing 
the ventilation of a cell during summer. 
F is the floor ; C, the corridor ; C L, cell ; 
A, fresh or warm-air flue ; H, arch ; I, 
foul- air flue ; B, external air-brick; G, air 
grating, with wood slide for summer use : 
&, a second grating for same purpose. 
(7b ^ continued in our nwt.) 



KBTHOD OF WILDIKO IRON, STKU., AND 

BHnT laoN. 

In an earthen vessel melt borax, and add 
to it one-tenth of sal-ammoniac. When 
thfese ingredients are properly fused and 
mixed, pour them ont upon an iron plate, 
and let them cool. There is thus obtained 
a glassy matter, to which is to be added an 
equal quantity of quick lime. 

The iron and steel which are to be sol* 
dered, are first heated to redness, then this 
compound, first reduced to powder, is laid 
upon them i the eomposition melts and runs 
like sealing-wax; the pieces are then re- 
placed in the fire, taking oire to heat them 
at a temperature far below that usually em- 
ployed in welding ; they are then withdrawn 
and hammered, and the surfaces will be 
found to be thus perfectly united. The 
author asserts that this process, which may 
be applied to welding sheet-iron tubes, never 
fails. 



METHOD or BRINOINO OUT BCULPTURK 
UPON ALABASTER. 

This process is founded upon the pro- 
perty which alabaster or sulphate of Hme 
has, of being slowly eaten out by cold water, 
so that its polish is destroyed. 

In the first place the sculptures in relief, 
and all the parts intended to be preserved, 
are covered with a varnish insoluble in water, 
composed of wax dissolved in oil of turpen- 
tine mixed with white lead, or rather with a 



turpentine varnish, to which white lead and 
a little animal oil has been added to prevent 
the varnish from hardening and adhering 
too strongly to the alabaster. This is ap- 
plied with a soft paint brush moistened with 
oil of turpentine, into which it must be 
dipped every time that varnish is taken. 
The reserved parts being thus covered, suffer 
the vessel or ornament to dry for some 
hours, and then place it In a vessel filled 
with cold water, and leave it there for forty- 
eight hours, or longer if it is thought neces- 
sary. The varnish is then removed with a 
fine sponge dipped in oil of turpentine, and 
the vessel dried with a soft and very dry 
rag. When the vessel is thus cleared of its 
varnish and dried, pass over it a new soft 
brush, first dipped in finely powdered plas- 
ter. This powder fills the pores of the 
plaster whidi has been attacked by ttm 
water, and renders it mat ; which brings out 
the transparent parts of the alabaster In 
relief. 

To clean ornaments and aeu^turei t» 
alabaster. — Wash out any grease spoto with 
oil of turpentine; then put the piece in 
water, and suffer it to remain until it Is 
freed from its impurities. When yon take 
it out, rub it with a very dry paint brush ; 
let it dry, and pass over it powdered plaster. 
In this way the piece will be perfectly 
washed, and will look as though it had just 
come from the hand of the carver. 



ON A CERTAIN ARABIC MANUSCRIPT. BT 
JAMBS COCKLE, ESO., M.A., BARBISTRR- 
AT-LAW. 

. Sir, — In Hutton's Philosophical and 
Mathematical Dictionary'* allusion is 
made to " an Arabic manuscript, said to 
be on cubic equations, deposited in the 
library of the University of Leyden by 
the celebrated Warner, bearing a thte 
which in Latin signifies Omar Sin 
Ibrahim aV Ghajamal Algebra cubicarum 
aquationum, sive de prohiematumsolido^ 
rum resolutione.** The importance of 
ascertaining the nature of the manu- 
script alluded to is great and obviout. 
It would probably clear up some doubt- 
ful points in the history of algebra. I 
address this note to you in the hope of 
being the means of inducing some com- 
petent Arabic scholar to examine the 
supposed manuscript with the attention 
which it appears to deserve. 
I am, Sir, yours, &c. Jamb* Coorlb. 

Northampton. June 90, I84S. 

• See vol. 1., p. 74, kU •* Algebra.* 



31 



KBCBNT AMSRICAU PATENTS. 



[Selected from the 
Improtsmbnt in Clocks and Timb- 
PISCB6. C^uneey Boardnum and Joseph 
A. Well9. 

The iiiTention consUtt in placing the 
driTing spring upon the same shaft with the 
fosee, eoanectmg the shaft of the combined 
liuee sod spring to the frame of the dock 
noTeaoents, and attaching one end of this 
spring to the frame of the clock movements. 
Impsovxubnt in Toasting Cofpbe, 

CALLBB " SbLP - TOA8TINO AbOMA - CON- 

9BXSINO Apparatus/' Jo/m R, Rem" 



The patentee says, '' The nature of mj 
invention consists of a metallic wheel of 
backets, somewhat similar to an overshot 
wBter-wbeel, bnt of small diameter, the 
buckets of which receive the grains of coffee 
that drop one by one from a hopper above, 
and which by their weight, turn the wheel 
that carries the grain slowly through a dr- 
enlar trough bdow, that extends around 
shont one-third of the circomference of the 
wbed, and which u suffidently heated by a 
saall furnace to toast the coffee daring the 
tine that it is carried from one end to the 
other, when it is discharged by means of an 
inclined spout into a vessel below, where 
the aroma is condensed by cold water in a 
pan above; the buckets of the wheel ^eing 
BO formed as to contain the requisite quan- 
tity of coffee, to insure the turning of the 
whed by the wdght thereof, and so curved 
near the periphery as to drsg the grains 
through the trough and up to the spout, 
and the hopper being provided with a hinged 
ahnte, the inclination of which can be in- 
creased or decreased to regulate the delivery 
of the grains of coffee into the wheel, 
whereby the motion of the wheel is gauged 
to the temperature of the furnace." 

Fob an Impboybmbnt in thb Safbty 
FusR Foa Blasting Rocks, &c. Richard 
B§eem. 

The patentee says, — " My improvement 
consists in providing for communicating the 
Are vrith more certainty to the charge, to 
eliiBOt which I insert lengthwise through the 
ftue, and as near the centre of the powder 
or other combustible matter as msy be, a 
thread saturated with a solution of nitre, 
sulphur, or any other combustible material 
or substance. To the shove is the cldm 
Bmited." 

Impbotbmbnt in Pnbumatic Springs 
ya» Railroad Cars, &c« John Lewii. 

We make the following extrsot from the 
spaeifioation : 

" The nature of my invention consists in 
sq^plyiBg the dastidty of atmospheric dr, 



Framklim Joumai.'] 

or any permanently elastic gas, by means of 
an expanding and contracting chamber, or 
chambers, made in one, two, or more parts, 
and connected together by means of two or 
more belts of India-rubber doth, or other 
flexible or impermeable materid, with alco- 
hol or other liquid interposed, the more 
effectudly to prevent the escape of the air 
or gas contained in the apparatus, and to dd 
in rdieving the flexible connection, and 
preventing its rupture by the action of the 
weight or force on the spring. This mode 
of connecting two vessels being applicable, 
without the dr, to other purposes, such as 
hydraulic presses, &c., by forcing water into 
or between the two vessels. And my im- 
provement also consists in providing this 
apparatus with one or viore of what I de- 
nominate a retpiraiory ehambert or cham- 
bers, attached to one or both ends of the 
apparatus, and separated from the main 
chamber of the apparatus by a diaphragm, 
or diaphragms, perforated with holes, which 
will check the passsge of the air, and thus 
relieve the apparatus from the injurious 
effects of sudden shocks." 

Claim.—" What I cldm as my invention 
is, first, the method of connecting the two 
vessels, composing the pneumatic spring, 
bumper, rest, &c., by means of two or more 
belts, with dcohol or other liquid interposed, 
substantially as described, to be used for the 
purposes sbove set forth. 

" Second. I cldm so arranging the two 
vessels, and the connecting belt or bdts, 
substantially as described, that the bdt or 
belu shdl, at dl times, be sustained by 
either one or both of the vessels, to prevent 
them from being ruptured by the pressure 
of the contained fluid, as described. 

'* Third. I claim dividing the spsce be- 
tween two discs into one or more spaces by 
means of a perforated diaphragm, or dia- 
phragms, to form what I denominate a respi- 
ratory chamber, or chambers, substantidly 
as described, and for the purposes explamed 
above. 

" Fourth. I dso cldm making the inner 
periphery of the outer vessel, or the outer 
periphery of the inner vessd, or both, be- 
veled or conicd, so that the space between 
the two, in which the flexure of the connecting 
belt or belts takes place, shdl be dimioished 
as the pressure increases, as described, for 
the purpose of ensbling the flexible connec- 
tion the better to resist the increased pres- 
sure, as described ; and this I cldm, wheth« 
used with or without the other improve- 
mento." 



32 



HAKRISOM'B railway CHAIE-PTN PRKS8INO MACHINB. 

[lUgiitend nnder the Act for the Protection of Articles of Utility. John Harriion, of Lamb Mill, 

Co»wling, Skipton, Proprietor.] 

F I c. :ir 




FIG. 2 . 



^s^^^i^i. 




"^ 



m 



H 



© 



D 



Figure 1 is a front elevation, and fig. 2 
a aide elevation of this machine. A^ A' 
are a pair of grooved rollers, which are 
mounted in suitable bearings in the 
frame, BB, with the surface of the one 
rdUer in contact with the surface of the 



other roller. The grooves, a a a, are 
of a semicircular shape, so that they 
form, by their junction, a series of cir- 
cular openings, through which the pins, 
after having been previously prepared, are 
passed. In the partial preparation given 



T^B bOTBR HAHBOUR OF RBVUOE. 



33 



to the pins before having being passed 
tfaroQffh between the rollersi &ej are 
left a little larger than the largest of the 
openings, a a a, so that, after having been 
sneeessiyelj passed through, from the 
largest to the smallest, the^r are fit for 
nse. The snrfaees of the three grooves, 
aaa^ are plain, and produce plain pins, 
while the surfaces of the fourth pair of 
grooveiy h, are reeded, and produce a 
leeded pin. 

Motion is given to the rollers by a 
Heam engine, or other power, through 
the intervention of the driving pulley, C ; 
tlie endless screw, D ; aud the wheel, E, 
into which the endless screw gears. 

F F are a pair of pinions upon the 
ends of the roller spinales, to insure the 
taming of both rollers together. 
♦ 

niB DOTBB HARBOUR OF RBrVGV — SIR 
8AXUBL BBKTHAH'S MODB OF CON* 
STRVCTINO 8BA WALLS. 

The Dover Harbour Commissioners, 
though not giving an unqualified ap- 
proval to any one of the plans submitted 
to them, give the preference to that of 
Mr. Rendel, who, as to materials and 
mode of construction, recommends the 
use of masses of hard brick laid in 



eement. 

It does not appear by what means 
these masses are intended to be depo- 
sited in their desired places, and to be 
connected together so as to form the up- 
Mht wall which Mr. Rendel proposes. 
ne depth under water in which the wall 
is proposed to be constructed being 42 
feet, were Uie work to be executed under 
cover of a dam of the ordinary kind the 
expense would be enormous. 

The least costly mode, it is believed, 
that has hitherto been devised for con- 
stmcting sea walls in deep water, was 
that invented by Brigadier- General Sir 
Samnel Bentham ; and in which manner 
about 200 feet running of sea wall was 
executed at Sheemess, some of it at the 
depth of 27 feet below low-water spring 
tides, whereby, compared with the ordi- 
nary mode, a saving of from 50/. to 100/. 
per foot running was made, as the depths 
under low water varied from 12 to 27 
feet. This mode was by means of hollow 
buoyant masses, constructed on shore of 
briclu set in Roman cement, to a height 
of a few feet above water at low water ; 
then floated to their places, sunk, pressed 
into the ground, then filled in with con- 
crete composed of the cheapest materials, 



as chalk, shingle, &e., grouted together 
with a calcareous cement. The face of 
the wall to seaward was, above low water, 
of granite. 

This mode of structure might probably 
be found applicable for the intended sea 
wall at Dover. It would possess all the 
advantages of the wooden caissons pro- 
posed by Mr. Walker, saving the ex* 
pense of this costly material, which, be- 
sides first cost, from its perishable nature, 
and the depredations of the sea-worm, 
could not be considered as forming part 
of the permanent wall. 

As to materials. Sir Samuel's investi- 

fitions had produced conviction that 
entish ragstone was, when of a good 
variety, particularly durable; and he 
ascertained that it could be furnished of 
the best quality at a much lower price 
per foot cube delivered at Sheemess, 
than an equal bulk of brick. Had the 
works there been continued according to 
his proposals, that stone would have been 
generally employed instead of brick. 
The additional cost of freight to Dover, 
might render it there more costly than 
brick. 

The cement used for the masses at 
Sheemess, proved, when set, harder than 
die bricks themselves — the Utter always 
giving wav on trial rather than the ce- 
ment ; ana this whether the experiments 
were made by pressure or by percussion. 

The cement was burnt on the spot, 
and used fresh ; but unusual precaution 
was taken in the choice uf the cement 
stone. There having been at that time 
no chemist in the naval department. Sir 
Samuel obtained for his assistant the 
** Mechanist," a small chemical appara- 
tus with the necessary tests, who on ex- 
perimenting on diflerent cement stones, 
ascertained that the difference in quality 
of the cement produced from them de- 
pended on the different chemicalproper- 
ties of the stones themselves. This cir- 
cumstance seems to merit more attention 
than is usually given to it in the manu- 
facture of Roman cement. 

The mode which Sir Samuel devised for 
ascertaining the nature of the soil and 
substrata under water at Sheemess, is ap- 
plicable to a great variety of works, and 
perhaps might be employed with advan- 
tage at Dover; for althongh by the 
diving-bell, boring, &c., in the usual 
way, much useful information may be 
obtained, yet a more perfect knowledge 
of the substrata, and of their power of 
o3 



34 



SIR SAMUEL BSNTHAM's MODB OP CONtTRUCTIKO SEA WALLS. 



hearingr gT«t weights, would be afforded 
by examination of them in the dry, as if 
under cover of a dam. 

Ue devised an iron cylinder of suffi- 
cient diameter to admit a man, and to 
allow him to work within it ; this cylinder 
entering the ground below water, and 
extending upwards to above high water. 
It had a valve inside* so that, when 
closed, water might on occasion be let 
into the upper part of the cylinder with- 
out entering the lower part of it The 
following letter from Mr. Kingston, 
master millwright in Sir Samuel's manu- 
facturing establishments in Portsmouth 
Dockyard, will afford a description of 
the use made of that cylinder : 

"Portsmouth Yard, 

"July 10, 1812. 
"Honourable Sir,— I received a letter 
from Mr. Goodrich this morning, in which 
be informed me that you wished me to send 
an account of the trial of the ground at 
Sheerness by means of the iron cylinder ; 
therefore, honourable Sir, I here give you 
as correct an account as I possibly can, viz. : 
-~Forty-two feet in length of iron cylinder, 
weight about seven tons, was placed in a 
line with the front of the present new wharf. 
The ground (within the cylinder) for several 
days after the cylinder was placed, was not 
water-tight ; but as soon as the water was 
admitted upon the valve which was in the 
inside of the cylinder, — which valve was 
placed at a distance of eighteen feet from 
the bottom, for the purpose of pressing the 
cylinder into the ground, by admitting a > 
column of water upon the said valve equal to 
three tons and a half,-— the ground then was 
completely water-tight, and the distance the 
eylinder w^s in the ground was about two 
feet eight inches. The cylinder remained 
in that state until such time as you came to 
Sbeemess, when you ordered me to get some 
assistance, and bore into the ground in the 
inside of the cylinder ; and in boring about 
eight feet down, the ground appeared to 
consist of chalk, sand, and clay united toge- 
ther, and in boring to this depth, no water 
came into the cylinder ; but in boring a few 
inches further, the auger went instantly 
down about ten feet i the water then came 
into the cylinder, and soon was at the same 
height in the inside of the cylinder as it was 
on the outside. The auger was left in the 
ground that night, and in the morning the 
ground had so completely filed the auger, 
that I was obliged to take off twelve feet of 
the cylinder, and get a launch and make fast 
to the auger at low water, for the purpose 
of drawing the auger. 

" The height of the water on the outside 



of the cylinder was foKy-two fast' at Ugh« 
water. 
" I remain, honourable Sir, 

" Your most obedient humble servant, 
"Wm. Kingston. 
" Sh, Samuel Bentham, 

" Navy Otiice, London." 

The iron cylinder, although composed 
of several separate rings capable of being 
connected water-tight together, one 
above the other, having of course beea 
weighty and cumbersome to remove, led 
Sir Samuel to the invention of a wooden 
one, shod with iron, which he caused to 
be employed in Portsmouth Harbour. 
In a letter from Mr. Kingston^ dated 
Portsmouth Dockyard, 2dth July, 1812, 
he says, respecting the wooden one, 
** The ground on which the cylinder was 
first placed is water-tight, and I can 
transport the cylinder with great ease to 
any part of the harbour you may think 
proper to point out, as the cylinder will, 
without any assistance, float in 12 feet 
water." 

It was by making himself perfectly 
acquainted with the nature of the ground 
on which his great works at Portsmouth 
were to be erected, that structures there, 
according to his designs, were invariably 
exempt from failure, though all of them 
had been pronounced to be *' hazardous, 
dangerous, and unsafe.'* 1 1 was the know- 
ledge which he obtained by means of the 
cylinders, of the water - tiffht crust at 
Sheerness, and of the weights it would 
bear at different parts without danger of 
penetrating to the running sand and 
water underneath it, that gave him confi- 
dence in the mode of construction he 
determined on ; and there exists un- 
doubted evidence of the stability of his 
masses, though they were no longer em- 
ployed after the abolition of his office. 

The success of the wooden cylinder 
led Sir Samuel to the invention of mov- 
able wooden dams, as described in his 
patent of March 5, 1812, and which 
should dams be found necessary at 
Dover, might, if adopted, be a means of 
saving much expense. He had intended 
employing them in the construction of a 
mastery at Portsmouth. After the abo- 
lition of his office, he furnished the Navy 
Board with short notes respecting various 
matters that had been referred to him ; ' 
in relation to that mastery, after other 
observations, he added the following ex- 
tract of a minute to that Board : 
** I have also to observe that the ezperi- 



Arthur's decimal monbt, wsiaHTS, and iirasures. 



35 



tacnti mhdt with the cylinder, for the mak- 
ing of which I obtained the Board's autho- 
ri^ of 4th Feb., 1812, seems sofficient to 
ihow that a new mode of excluding water 
by moveable dams, inyented by me, particu- 
laxly with a view to this and other works 
for the port of Portsmouth, is well suited 
for carrying on works under the circum* 
itancet of the soil of this spot, so that the 
nn<fer-?rater works proposed, might be eze- 
cnted at a for less expense than nnder coyer 
of an ordinary dam. 

" Samubl Bbntbau." 

"Peb.4, 1815." 

mu w. B. Johnson's rollbb bccsntric 

lUPROrBMSMT 81700B8TED. 

Sir, — ^In yonr number for April 22, a 
Mr. Johnson is stated to have taken out a 
jMLtent for some improvements in the steam 
engine, among which is an eccentric, to 
work with rollers in the band. Some time 
back, I altered a dressing machine, and nsed 
an eccentric instead of the usual crank. 
My improvements, I thought, were calcu- 
lated to render it easier to work ; but I did 
not find it so far answer my expectations. 
A Mend suggested that this arose from there 
being so madi more friction on an eccentric 
than on a crank ; and so I set to work to 
fedufse it. The result was, the placing of 
three rollers in the centre^ instead of in the 
band, which, I think, is preferable, as they 
are more out of the way, and can be larger. 
I made the models for casting, but cannot 
atkf i£ the plan will answer, as I have not 
tried it in work. Should it be of any use to 
Mr. Johnson, or any other person , I shall 
be happy to show it to them. 

I am. Sir, yours, Sec, 

W. J. JOTNBB. 

Aveley, near Romford, 
Jme 2», IS48. ^ 

low's PATBNT IMPROVBMBNTS 11^ THE 
MANUFACTURE OF COPPBR. 

{Patent dated November 4, 1847; Disclaimer (of 
thewoTdt " ainc, tin, and other metals") enrolled 
Maj 8, IMS. Specification enroUed May 4, 1848.] 

Tako 42 parts of the black oxide of man- 
ganese, 8 parts of plumbago, 2 parts of 
Itttrate of potash (or nitrate of soda or lime,) 
foad 14 parts of anthracite coal, or wood 
thareoal; mix these together, and add to 
the copper ore when melted 25 lbs. of the 
mixture for erery ton of ore. Then with- 
draw the slag resulting from this first ope- 
ration, and introduce another 25Jbs. of the 
mixture. Skim off the slag once more, and 
throw in a further quantity of the mix- 
ture ; in short, treat the melted ore in this 
way until the metal appears to be " in a 
Sufficiently forward state" to be run off. 

t^aim. — ^To the combined use of manga- 



nese, pinmbago, nitrate of potash, soda, or 
lime, and oarboB in the manufacture of 
copper. 

Arthur's dbcimal monby, wbiohts, 

and measurrs. 
[From a small Pamphlet, entitled, " Proposed New 

Patent Decimal Coins, Weights, and Measures," 

by " Arihai;" printed at Swansea.] 

It would be a great advantage to all 
kingdoms — it would be a great advantage to 
travellers — it would greatly facilitate and in- 
crease commerce, if there were the same 
money-coins, weights, and measures, in all 
the principal countries in Europe and Ame- 
rica. 

The English statute, 5 Geo. IV., re- 
moved a great many of the imperfections 
from the English weights and measures, but 
as there are still latent imperfections in 
them, it is neither advisable nor desirable 
that they should be adopted by foreign 
nations. 

The following tables of money, weights, 
and measures will be found, on rigid exami- 
nation, more convenient and perfect than 
any extant in any part of the world. The 
names of them are also more simple and 
easy to learn than any others. 

MONEY. 

100 Mites or Centimes make 1 Florin. 
10 Florins 1 Pound sterling. 

LONG MBA8URB. 

10 Metres or Mites make I Link or Span. 

10 Links 1 He. I 

10 lies 1 Xile (pron. Zile,) X 

10 Xlles 1 Centile. C 

10 Centiles, or 1000 lies 1 Mile, (Railroad.) M 

SQUARE MEASURB. 

100 Square Metres make 1 Square Link 

100 Square Links 1 Square He. 

100 Square lies I Square Xlle. 

10 Square Xiles 1 Acre. 

1000 Square Acres 1 Square Mile. 

CUBIC MEASURE. 

1000 Cubic Metres make 1 Cubic Link. 
1000 Cubic Links 1 Cubid He. 

AVOIRDUPOIS WBIOHT. 

1 Mites make 1 Dixwelght. 

10 Dixweights 1 Tb., 1 lb., or Imperial Pound. 

10 lbs ^.... I Xib. 

10 Xibs 1 Centib. 

10 Centibs 1 Mib or Milb. 

LIQUID MBASURB. 

10 Mites make 1 Verre or Glass. 

10 Verres 1 Kan. 

10 Kans 1 Ig or New Imperial Oallon. 

10 Igs I Xig, (pronounced Zig.) 

lOXigs ICentig. 

These coins, weights, and measures, are 
not only simple and convenient, but they 
are based on such sound and scientific prin- 
ciples, that I am confident they will deserve, 
and I trust will obtain, the approbation of 
all scientific persons and the Governments 
of all countries. 



36 

M, HVMPRRT'b IMPR0VKMBNT8 IK STIAM SVOIKIfl, AND IN SNGINK8 OR 
APPARATUS POR RAISING, EXHAUSTING, AND PORCINO PLUID8. 

[Patent dated January 4, 1848. Specification enrolled July 4, 1848.] 




The sort of steam engine to which Mr. 
Humphry's improvements have more 
particular relation, is that now usually 
employed in screw propelling, which is 
of the class called direct- acting, but 
works, at the same time, through the 
medium of multiplying wheels; and 
though these improvements consist but 
of matters of arrangement, they will be 
found of very great value and importance. 
By a better disposition of the ordinary 
parts of the engine, he is enabled to dis- 
pense entirely with one prominent mem- 
ber (the crank,) and to bring the whole 
within a much smaller compass than has 
ever before been done. A pair of engines 
on this plan have been already fitted to 
the Government screw steamer Reynard, 
with which some most successful trials 
were made down the river last week; 
and there seems little doubt of the same 
plan being henceforth generally adopted. 

The prefixed figure represents a top 
plan of a pair of screw-propelling engines 
on this plan. A is the screw- shaft ; B B, 
pinions attached to the screw-shaft ; C C, 



driving-wheels, which gear into the pi- 
nions, B B ; D D, the cylinders, the pis- 
tons of which are connected by rods, 
E £, to pins, F F, on the ouUide of the 
driving-wheels ; and GG, (he air-pumps, 
which are worked by cranks or eccentrics 
on the shaft, I. In this improved arrange- 
ment, the driving-wheels occupy the 
positions usually assigned to the engine- 
cranks ; that is to say, each wheel revoWes 
in a space between a straight line drawn 
through the centre of the piston-rod of 
the adjoining cylinder and a parallel line 
drawn through the adjoining bearing of 
the main shaft; and the so placing of 
the driving-wheels enables the pistons to 
be connected directly to them, instead of 
through the intervention of cranks, as 
usual. 

Mr. Humphry's patent includes also 
an improved description of valve for 
engines and apparatus used in raising, 
exhausting, and forcing fluids, such aa 
steam engine air-pumps, atmospheric 
railway pumps, &c. A metal plate (of a 
square, or any other suitable form) har 



DSBiaN FOR A ROTART STEAM SNOINE. 



S7 



apertures made in it for the inflow or 
ontlet of the fluid. Each aperture is 
covered by a piece of steel, or other like 
flexible metal, of about a sixteenth of an 
inch in thickness, which is made fast at 
one end bj screws, while the other end 
is left free, so that while it yields with 
the preatest readiness to the pressure of 
the flnid, it closes instantly again on the 
cessation of the pressure, without noise 
or any liability to derangement. 



]»«SfQN FOR A ROTART BTKAM BNGTNIC. 




Sir, — > If y€# consider the above 
sketch of aroury steam engine, with ex- 

flanation, worthy of the space occupied, 
shall feel obliged by their insertion in 
your Journal. I have endeavoured to 
show that the engine there exhibited 
will not oonsnme more steam than a 
vibrating engine of the same propor« 
if I am wrong in my calculations. 



I shall be happy to be put right by any 
of your readers who may be inclined to 
take the trouble. 

I calculate the consumption of steam 
in comparison with a viorating engine 
in the following manner: — Supposing 
the diameter of the rotary engine to be 

1 foot 6 inches, the circumference of the 
outer circle described by the pistons 4 
feet 6 inches, the area of the cylinder 
being 4^ inches, the circumference of the 
inner circle will be 2 feet 3. inches ; and, 
consequently, the intermediate, or real 
length of the cvlinder will be 3 feet 
4i inches, from wdich deduct 6} inch, or 
one*sixth the space occupied by the pis- 
tons, it leaves 2 feet 9f inches, the ac- 
tual length of the cylinder occupied by 
steam. The arm being equal to 64 inches, 
would require a cylinder in a vibrating 
engine of 15i inches, independent of the 
space occupied by the piston, which being 
twice filled for one revolution would be 

2 feet 7 inches of steam consumed ; the 
area of the cylinder in each engine being 
the same, consequently, in the rotary 
engine 33f inches of steam is consumed 
in one revolution, and in one revolution 
of the vibrating engine 31 inches, being 
a difierence of -^^th greater consumption 
bv the rotary engine ; but as during i^th 
of the revolution of Uie rotarj engine 
two pistons are in full force, I imagine 
the difierence would be small, and what 
there was in favour of the rotary engine, 
taking into account the increase of power 
from the operation of two pistons during 
iVth of the revolution, and the ad- 
vantage to be obtained by a direct rotary 
motion. 

I am, Sir, yours, &c. 

Stbpbrk Sharp. 
8, Mount-row, I^ew Kent-road. 

Description of the prefixed figure. 

a, Of a, three pistons or arms revolving 
in a circular box or cylinder, B^, B^, 
B3, B4; c, c, c, c, two valves moving on 
a centre with the action of the pistons 
and the steam admitted at the back of 
them by the feeding-pipes D D, the 
exhaustion pipes being at £ £ ; the two 
cells, Bi B9, are at present occupied by 
steam, which exhaustion is effected in 
ceils Ba, B4, F F are feeding pipes in 
the reversed action. 



M 



THB ORESHAM PROFI880A8HIPS. 



It is possible that a few of our readers 
are aware that some **out-of-the- world" 
place, bearing the name of Gresham 
College, once existed ; and, from the 
name of Sir Thomas Gresham being so 
intimately connected with the history of 
the Royal Exchange, they might be led 
to suppose that the *' merchant prince'* 
was somehow or other associated with 
the history of that extinct and almost 
forgotten college. They would conjec- 
ture rightly ; but it is only in an ency- 
clopedia, or a history of the Royal Ex- 
change, or in the " Life of Gresham," 
that the great majority of our readers 
will learn whether it exists in Oxford, 
Cambridge, London, or Timbuctoo. 

Sir Thomas Gresham did found a col- 
lege in London ; endowed it with seven 
professorships of the 'Miberal sciences '* 
(as they were then called ;) and ^ave the 
professors apartments for collegiate pur- 
poses in the Royal Exchange, with fifty 
Iiounds per annum for each of them^a 
arge sum in the days of Elizabeth. It 
was. Indeed, in this very college, that 
the Royal Society had its London origin ; 
and in this very college the builder of 
St. Paul's was once the professor of geo- 
metry P Where is it now ! Where has 
it been since the time when the Royal 
Society transferred itself as an inde- 
pendent body to Crane-court? Who 
are its professors ? Where do they lec- 
ture f What public benefit results from 
this endowment, to the •* liberal sciences ** 
of our own day ? We roust go further 
than books will tell us to answer these 
questions. 

The fact is. that the college has ceased 
to exist, in nfore than a city- name, for a 
century and a half. For a considerable 
time no lectures were given, and even 
whilst they were given, it was **in a 
room over the Royal Exchange," as the 
traditionary stories of the encyclopcBdias 
tell us, which was never intended to be 
discovered, through the tortuous wind- 
ings that led to it, by any mortal, either 
eitisen or scholar. Professors, indeed, 
were appointed, anH their salaries were 
regularly paid ; but it yet is to be learnt 
that one single professor of that college 
has made the most trivial addition to the 
science upon which he was paid for lec- 
turing, either by his personal discoveries 
or the diffusion of learning, for more 
than a century. The college and its 



funds have been, in plain truth, subjects 
of as completely corrupt abuse as any 
one amongst the whole range of city 
trusts; and in sayin? so much, we do 
not anticipate the slightest attempt at 
the temerity of contradiction. Who, in- 
deed, are the professors, and what is the 
qualification for their appointments P We 
may see, indeed, now and then an adver- 
tisement in the Timen, giving their 
names, the subjects on which they will 
lecture, and the days on which the 
successive acts of the dull farce *' will 
come off.*' But what cultivator of the 
** liberal sciences " knows any one of 
them, even by name, as possessing a 
common- place reputation for an ordinary 
amount of information about his particu- 
lar subject — to say nothing of zeal and 
ability for its extension P To use the 
language of the time (and of the Times^ 
too, when -it suits that remarkable 
paper to speak out) these professorships 
nave been, from the beginning of the 
last century, a series of jobs, as 
gross as any upon record. They are 
given without the least reference to merit 
or qualification, merely because some 
influential member of the Gresham Trust 
wishes to make a little addition to the 
income of his physician, his parish curate, 
of some family connection of his own, or 
the proiegi of some personal friend. The 
testator's inierUions are set aside to serve 
class interests and selfish relationship. 
The aristocratic jobbing with public ap- 
pointments has at length received some 
share of public attention and condemna- 
tion: it is time that the city- jobber, 
whether as an individual member of 
society, or as the trustee of a public 
benefaction, should be subject to the like 
scrutiny and the like disgrace: 

The Corporation and the Mercers' 
Company have (since the exertions of a 
worthy and independent citizen have 
compelled them to do awnething) built a 
new house in Gresham- street (vulgo^ 
Coleman -street,) and tftey have the lec- 
tures delivered in duplicate, both as to 
language and as to time. They have 
compensated their lecturers for their 
trouble by also doubling the nominal 
salary devised by the founder. These 
** wise men of Gotham" measure science 
by quantity only : whether its quality be 
good, or even genuine, concerns Msm 
not. Ignorant of science as the poor 



THB eHBIHAIC FR5FESS0RSHIP8. 



avage is ol the precious stones, a co- 
loaml bead of commoD glass pleases 
them juet as well as the diamond of the 
Avtocrat or the Great Mogul. It does 
not even concern one in a hundred of 
them ; for science is not their toy, nor 
Greafaam science even the toy of their 
wives and daughters. If their ladies 
should, in the course of their fashionable 
vagaries, think a taste for learning would 
lo& gracefully upon their sweet faces, 
tfaev will not go so near the vulgar shop 
in the eity as to seek it at the Gresham, 
but will *' patronise " the Royal Institu- 
tion or the Polytechnic,' where science will, 
at leaaty have the merit of being fashion- 
able. 

The Gresham professors are appointed 
fir iifef whibt their emolument in no 
degree depends upon the efficiency with 
which they perform their duties. It is 
always an appendage^ the duties of which 
are to be shuffled over with the least 
possible trouble; and is never looked 
npon as an appointment calculated to do 
hoooor to the man, or demanding even 
the show of a reputable attempt to exe* 
CQte its duties honourably or usefully. 
As the Charterhouse was once used by 
those who held the power of nomina- 
tion lo its benefits, as a convenient mode 
of pensioning off their butlers and foot- 
men—so the Gresham professorships are 
made available for answering the claims 
which needy or greedy relatives may 
otherwise make on the purse of the 
wealthy citisen. 

Ought these things to be ? Are the 
intentions of Sir Thomas Gresham to 
be set aside, and the funds which he de- 
vised to be perverted from the spirit of 
the donor; the trustees simply taking 
care to keep to the windward side of the 
mere letter of the founder's will — and 
not always even that ? This must cease. 
Ify indeed, the trustees be not absolutely 
besotted with their hereditary indulgence 
IB this kind of riot, they will themselves 
adopt a different course as each pro- 
fessorship becomes vacant. We have, 
however, but little hope; for there is 
no ayatem so pertinaciously adhered 
fo by corporate bodies, as the char- 
tered practice of corruptly exercising 
their patronage. If, however, they will 
not remove the <' unclean thing " from 
amongst themselves, the sanatory com- 
missioners under the bill for intellectual 
health will do it for them-^nd that with 
a romgh hand. 



The geometry-professor's name ap« 
peared in the newspaper obituaries a few 
days ago. The Rev. Dr. Birch was of a 
city and corporation family, as we under* 
stand. He took his degree in 1802, at 
Cambridge ; was of St. John's College, 
and came out on the Tripos ordy tenth 
eeniar-optime^ even at that dat; was 
appointed Gresham professor in 1808, 
and has therefore held that office for 
forty years, besides considerable church 
preferment, amongst which was a pre« 
bendal stall in St. Paul's. For his so- 
called lectures on geometry alone he re- 
ceived no less a sum than^^r thoMand 
pounds ! 

We have no inclination to detract from 
the personal worth of the deceased pro- 
fessor; for besides having no grounds 
by which to judge of him under this 
aspect, it would under any circumstanoes 
be altogether irrelevant. He was, we 
doubt not, as active a clergyman as many 
of his brethren ; and quite as active, as a 
soporific audience is calculated to render, 
either a lecturer in the pulpit or a pro- 
fessor in his '* chair." Under the latter 
aspect we here alone view him, and 
only seek to understand his character as 
the illustradon of the system of ap- 
pointing men to trusts, for which neither 
their actual information nor their intel- 
lectual constitution, adequately prepare 
them. Dr. Birch, as it appears to us, 
possessed no one qualification, beyond 
that of interest to get the appointment, 
for the office which he held so long, and 
for *' performing the duties" of which 
(as it is facetiously called,) he received 
so large a sum of money. We will 
willingly retract what we say, if any five 
persons will come forward and pledge 
their honour, that the ledlures of Dr. 
Birch have either created in them a suffi- 
cient love for geometry to induce their 
own effective cultivation of it; or that 
they have gained from those forty years' 
lectures any single idea which was not 
as common as flints in a chalk-bed! 
Nay, we will reduce the five witnesses 
to a single one — only subject to this con- 
dition, that be has given public evidence 
of his knowledge of the difference be- 
tween Taylor's theorem and Christie'a 
theorem. 

But what are the published evidences 
of the acquaintance of Dr. Birch, or any 
one of his patronised colleagues, that 
they even understand, to a moderately 
fair degree, the several ** liberal sal- 



4Q 



THE GRESHA1I PSOflgSSOlt SHIPS. 



ences" upon which, term after term, 
they repeat their insignificant lectures ? 
As to discoveries in those sciences — tell 
us where to look for them. Echo an- 
swers, " Where ?" but all the world is 
dumb. 

Who is the next to act this farce, and 
receive the pay ? No doubt he is cut and 
dried — ^ready to enter on his duties in such 
fuhion as he may be able, and to draw 
upon the Gresham exchequer his pay as 
regularly as the << public creditor" his 
diyidends at the Banlc. We do not read 
the signs of the times aright, if he be not 
the last of his race. This will not--can- 
not — ^must not — ^go on. Public trusts 
must revert to their intended uses. 

Had the whole of the appointments, 
referred to forty years back, and had 
men, either qualified by their acquire- 
ments, or honoured for their pro- 
fessional energy and scientific disco- 
yeries, been subsequently chosen, then, 
indeed, our condemnation of the system 
would haye been gladly exchanged for 
the open-hearted approbation which such 
a choice would deserve. Appointments, 
however, have since been made — and 
made on the old principle of ** providing 
for friends and aependents,**— the exer- 
cise of undisguised corporation influence. 
Even were it otherwise, the opinion en- 
tertained by scientific men as to the 
mode of appointment is so generally in 
accordance with what we have stated, 
that no one who has attained to the 
slightest station in his profession, would 
think for a moment of ofi^ering him- 
self. It is, indeed, just possible that 
some chivalrous spirit, ardent to render 
such a ^st a post of real usefulness, 
might risk an application; but we all 
know that where the form of an elec- 
tion may be imposed upon the pub- 
lic, it is nothing more than a blind to 
persuade the lieges that all is conducted 
fairly. No matter for the trouble and 
anxiety created for the candidates who 
are predestined to be set aside, in ac- 
quinng testimonials, and producing 
proofs of their competency ! This is 
such an every-day aflTair even in the 
management of *' getting up" a commer- 
cial joint-stock company, that no one is 
surprised at the result. See even,' too, 
the conduct of the new Oxfbrd Board of 
Trustees of the Taylor Institute, where 
the same outrage has been perpetrated ; 
where men eminently qualified for 
the Philological chair have been set 



aside, in favour of a man who has not 
the most ordinary qualifications for its 
duties — simply because that man is the 
fallen minister of a fallen dynasty ! Such 
trifling with the scientific public as that 
of the Gresham Committee, and with 
the literary, as that of the Taylor Board, 
deserves, and will receive, the indignant 
denunciation of every man of high and 
honourable feeling. 

If the present Trustees of the Gresham 
do not wish to be held up to perpetual 
disgrace for abuse of their trust, let them 
at once change the old venal system of 
appointment, into one which is both in 
accordance with the spirit of the times — 
with the ordinary principles of Christian 
honesty — and with the unmistakable in- 
tentions of the founder himself. Let 
them consider themselves as trustees for 
the public, not their office as a fief of 
their own, to be exercised according to 
their own interests, and the interests of 
family and party. Let them rest assured, 
at any rate, that if the purposes of Sir 
Thomas Gresham be thus perverted, 
they will pay the penalty of public 
odium. Whatever of proved abuse shall 
occur in these days, will go down to pos- 
terity with its author's name attached ; 
and we do not think the Trustees have 
such an extraordinary fund of character, 
as to be well able to afford the loss of so 
much of that commodity as this vrill 
entail. 

We had intended to point out the 
principles upon which such an election 
should be conducted as well as the 
changes which would secure the fulfil- 
ment of the founder's intentions. We 
can, however, only indicate them briefly 
this week : but we shall probably return 
to the subject in our next Number.* 

1. Instead of a life appointment to 
the professorship let it be limited to 
three, or at most to five years : the same 
person not occupying the chair during 
two consecutive periods. This would 
prevent the lecturers sinking down into 
the contemptible routine of repetition to 
which they have now sunk. 

2. Let the appointment be considered 
honorary rather than one of mere emolu- 
ment. The stipend is too contemptible 
to attract the attention of able men, on 
the ground of pecuniary reward: but 
were the appointment exercised as a 
reward and recognition of eminent ser- 
vices in the cause of sciences and lite- 
rature, the leading intellect of the eoan- 



ELECTRO PAINTING, 



41 



try would be ready to accept it, despite 
Its limited reward in money. Whether 
the Gresham Trustees understaDd it or 
not, there are higher prizes in the esti- 
mation of the intellectual classes than 
Gresham gold. Developed intellect is 
not a ''money-grub." 

8. Let no man be chosen who has not 
rendered valuable services to science or 
to seientific education ; and who is not, 
moreoTer, earnestly devoted to sucb 
labours as will effectually carry out the 
fundamental objects of Sir Thomas 
Gresham. Hundreds such exist in this 
eomtry, so that there is a wide range of 
choioe. We make no objection to a 
Cambridge man in reference to the Chair 
now vacant : but, on the contrary, should 
be glad to see anyone of many whom we 
eotud name so appointed. Of non- 
seademie men, too, we could specify se- 
veral eminently fitted for the office : but 
to eomply with the cenend predilection 
in favour of Cambridge mathematicians, 
we would at once concede the claims 
of all others : only subject to this 
proviM; that the Cambri<ige geometer 
sbonld be eenerally admitted to stand at 
the head of his class, whether as respects 
acquirements, earnestness, capacity for 
teachingy w successful labours in dif- 
fmng knowledge and creating an interest 
in it. To such men, for instance, as 
Mr. Potts, we should cordially award 
such an honour.** There can, at least, 
be no questioning the powers of a man 
whose name is before the world. 

4. Let it be incumbent on each pro- 
fessor to publish at the expiration of his 
term of office, the lectures which he has 
given— or at least such parts of them as 
may be conducive to the extension of 
education, to clearing up difficulties in 
the science upon which he lectured, and 
to the actual extension of the science it- 
aelf. The value of this method is evinced 
by the effect of publishing the Bampton 
Lectures, the Harveian and Hunterian 
OratioiiSy and some others that may be 
qooted. We would gladly see the 
Gresham Lectures in the same category. 



* Mr. Potf s Endid haa been more than once 
refeired to in oor Magazine, although we know 
Mthfaif of him personally. We have mentioned 
hhn now Incidentally aa the prindpal Cambridge 
geometer (in strtetnets of meaning) that occars to 
oor thoo^ta. Dor readers will see our own esti- 
mate of bfo woiks at vol. zUt. p. 137, vol. xlvi. 
p. 1«, aod vol. xlviL p. MS. 



KLKCTBO PAIKTIMO. 
(From the Athenamm.) 

I beg to submit to year notice a new me- 
thod of engraving, which I trust will prove 
a desirable addition to the styles at present 
in use. It is unnecessary to trouble you 
with a detail of the steps which led me to 
adopt this process, — the object of which is 
to engrave in copper the very touches of an 
artist's brush, so as to produce a fae'Hmile 
of the drawing. The process is extramely 
simple, the cost of the materials trifling, and 
the only skill required is that necessary for 
painting in oil or water colour. The artist 
has the power of making alterations in his 
design if necessary ; the finest touches may 
be given, the finest lines can be executed, 
and any depth of tint produced; and the 
drawing has the great advantage of not being 
reversed in the print. 

The principle of this process consists in 
the production of an electrotype copper cast 
of the drawing itself. The drawing Is to be 
made on a perfectly smooth, unhamished 
metal plate, the size of the drawing :— Ger- 
man silver is well adapted to the purpose. 
This plate is not injured by the process, and 
can be used repeatedly. The pigment em- 
ployed Is thus formed. Two parts of tallow 
and one of wax are to be well mixed toge- 
ther in a melted state, and blackened with 
the finest lamp-black: a small portion of 
this mass must then be rubbed down with 
turpentine, by the aid of a palette-knife, to 
the consistency of oil-paint. With this 
punt, a drawing is to be made with an ordi- 
nary paint brush on the German silver plate. 
The paint flows readily firom the brush, and 
forms raised touches on the smooth plate ; 
the touches intended to print the darkest 
being raised the highest. Various methods 
of working will suggest themselves to artists. 
A leather pad is very useful for produdng 
broad flat tints ; and good effects may also 
be obtained by using a leather shimp. Even 
the palette-knife may occasionally lend its 
aid. The artist can judge of the effect of 
the print from the colour of the drawing ; 
the tints of the one corresponding very closdy 
with the tints of the other. The highest 
lights are obtained dther by leaving the 
German diver plate bare, or by wiping out 
portions of the paint. When the drawing is 
finished, the finest French bronze powder 
(the same as that used for printing gold 
letters, must be freely dusted over its surface 
with a large and soft camel's hair brush, 
care being afterwards taken to brush away 
all the bronze which docs not adhero to the 
drawing. A drawing with a metallic surface 
is thus obtained; on which an electrotype 
copper plate, a perfect cast of the original 
drawing, and of sufficient thickness to bear . 



4S 



THE VEKETIAK GLASS WEIGHTS. 



the pressure of printing, may be readily de- 
posited. 

I propose the term "Electro Painting" 
as appropriate to this style of engraving. 
The electrotype plate when taken off the 
drawing must be carefully washed with tur- 
pentine, to remoTe any bronze or paint 
which may adhere to it, the edges mast be 
cut square, and the back of the plate filed 
smooth ; and it is then ready for the printer. 
The prints thns produced have all the rich- 
ness and depth of etching, and at the same 
time show distinctly the touch of the artist's 
brash. The specimens I send for your in- 
spection must be regarded as the work of a 
mere amateur ; but I trast yon will iind in 
them sufficient CTidence of a power which in 
more skilful hands is capable of producing 
Taluable results. 

I am, Sir, yours, &c., 

Fkrouson Branson, 
M.D., Cantab. 
8b«ffle14. 



THI VBNBTIAN GLASS WEIGHTS. 

An exceedingly beautiful description 
of weights for Horary tables, to which 
the above name has been given, has 
recently made its appearance in the fancy 
stationary shops. The weight — which is 
of various forms, circalar, oval, square, 
&o.— consists of a mass of clear, white 
crystal, inside of which, and embodied 
in it, there are representations, in co- 
loured glass, of coral, flowers, and other 
objects, formed by laying together the 
fibres of glass of various colour8,80 assorted 
that a section across the fibres exhibits 
the objects intended to be represented. 
The thing, however, is not altogether 
new, as will be seen from the following 
description of two specimens, given 
by Winkelmann, in his *' Annotations 
on the History of the Arts among the 
Ancients : '* 

** Each of them is not quite one Inch 
long and one third of an inch broad. One 
plate eihibits, on a dark ground of varie- 
gated eolours, a bird, representing a duck 
of various very lively colours, more suitable 
to the Chinese arbitrary taste^ than adapted 
to show the trae tints of nature. The out- 
lines are well decided and sharp: the colours 
beautifal and pure, and have a very striking 
and brillant effect, because the artist, ac- 
cording to the nature of the parts, has in 
some employed an opaque, and in others a 
transparent gUss. The most delicate pencil 
of the minature painter could not have 
traced more accurately and distinctly either 
the drde of the pnpil of the eye, or the 



apparently scaly feathers on the breast an 
wings, behind the beginning of which this 
piece had been broken. But the admiration 
of the beholder is at the highest pitch when, 
by turning the glass, he sees the same bird on 
the reverse, without perceiving any diffrrenott 
in the smaller points ; whence we could not 
but conclude that thia picture ia continued 
throngh the whole thickness of the speci- 
men, and that if the glass were cut trans- 
versely, the same picture of the duck would 
be found repeated in the several slabs ; a 
conclusion which was still further confirmed 
by the transparent places of some beautiful 
colours upon the eye and breast that were 
observed. The painting has on both sides 
a granular appearance, and seems to have 
been formed in the manner of mosaic works, 
of single pieces, but so accurately united, 
that a powerful magnifying glass was onabia 
to discover any j unctures. This circnmstanoe 
and the continuation of the picture through- 
out the whole substance, renders it extremelj 
difficult to form any direct notion of tha 
process or manner of forming such a work ; 
and the conception of it might have long 
continued enigmatical, were it not that, ia 
the section of the fracture mentioned, lines 
are observable, of the same colours which 
appear on the upper surface, that pervade 
the whole mass from one side to the other ; 
whence it became a rational conclusion, that 
this kind of painting must have been ae- 
cuted by joining variously coloured filaments 
of glass, and subsequently fusing them into 
one coherent body. The other specimen is 
of almost the same sise, and made in the 
same manner. It exhibits ornamental draw* 
ing of white, green, and yellow colours^ 
which are traced on a blue ground, and re- 
present volutes, beads, and flowers, retting 
on pyramidally converging linea. All these 
are are very distinct and separate, but so 
extremely small, that even a keen eye finds 
it difficult /o perceive the subtle endings ; 
those, in particular, in which the volutes 
terminate ; notwithstanding which, these 
ornaments pass unintenruptedly throngh the 
whole thickness of the piece." 



CRANK AND JTULLIONS' PATKNT IMFROVB- 
MKNTS IN THR If AN17FACTURR OF '* CRB- 
TAIN ACinS AND SALTS." 

[Patent dated January 18, 184S. Spedficadoa 
enroUed May 18, 1848.] 

The " certain acids " referred to ia the 
title of the patent are the nitric and oxalie 
adds, and the improvements in their manu- 
facture may be described generally as con- 
sisting in a mode of adding the matcriale 
to be decomposed by degrees, as required, 
to the mother liquor, which enables the 



KAXSVIKIS't HSW BURXtlMI OIM, I.AHPS, BVKKBES, KTC. 



49 



<^ermtor to employ the fiqnon or materialff 
tt a high temperature ; also in coBTerting 
the oxides of nitrogen into nitric acid by the 
deeompontion of water by meane of chlo- 
rine. 

The improTements in the manufacture of 
ttlts eOBiists in oiidizing metallic snbttances 
md mannfaftoring nitrates at the same time, 
by bringing oxides of nitrogen and oxy- 
gen gas, or atmospheric air, into contact 
aith a metal or metallic oxide, or any alkidi 
or alkaline earth; also in obtsiniog tar- 
trates of the alkaline earths, by decompos- 
ing the tartrates of potash by means of the 
SD^^bsrets of the metallic base of those 
earths ; and likewise in passing any of the 
oxygen compounds of nitrogen, together 
vfth any compound of hydrogen and carbon, 
or any mixture of hydrogen with a com- 
pound of carbon, or eren free hydrogen, 
through a tube containing any catalytic or 
eotttact anbstanee, such as platinum or 



MJU C. r. If ANSrilLD'S PATENT IMPnOVB- 
IfXJVTS IK TBB IfANUFACTURB AND 
PUaiFl CATION OP SPIRITUOUS SUBSTAN- 
CBS AND OILS APPLICABLB TO TBB PUR- 
P08BS OF ARTIFICIAL LIGHT AND VA- 
miOUS USBFUL ARTS, AND IN THB 
APPLICATION THBRBOF TO SUCH PUR- 
POSBS, AND IN THB CONSTRUCTION OF 

. LAMPS AND BURNBRa APPLICABLB TO 
TBB COMBUSTION OF SUCH SUBSTANCB8. 

(Patent dated November U, 1847. Specification 
oironed May 11, 1848.] 

The specification of this patent is of ex- 
traordinary length ; if given at length, it 
would fill a couple of our numbers, at least. 
For the following abstract of its multifarious 
contents, we are indebted to the learned 
patentee himself: 

The iuTention is divided into fife parts, 
wUch are, respectiTely — 
1st. An improTement in the manufacture 

of spirituous substances and oils. 
2Bd. An improvement in the purification 

of spirituous substances and oils. 
3rd. An improvement in the application 

of spirituous substances and oils to 

the purposes of artificial light. 
4th. An improvement in the construction 

of lamps. 
5th. An improvement in the construction 

of burners. 

TkM Fini Pari 
1m a method of separating from tars, bitumi- 
nous matters, and empyreomatie oils by dis- 
tillation, hydrocarbona or spirituous sub- 
staaees so volatile that they will yield suffid- 
eot TBpovr to a current of noii-lwniiiiforoai 



gas or common air passed through them, to 
enable such gas or air to bum with a lumi- 
noua flame ; and further, an applioatioii to 
coal-tar, or to the substances distilled from 
coal-tar, of a knowledge of the different vo- 
latility of certain substances not hitherto 
separated from each other, which exist in 
the tar, so as to obtain certain distinct pro- 
ducts ; and in the further manufacture from 
certain of these products of a fragrant oil or 
oils. 

The products thus manufactured are sit ; 
and for distinction are thus nsmed — allioli, 
benzole, ioluole, eamphole^ mortuole, and 
niirO'benzole. 

AlHole is an extremely volatile fluid hy- 
drocarbon, which is manufactured from cosl- 
tar, or coal-naphtha, by rectifying them in 
an apparatus similar to those used for the 
rectification of alcoholic spirits. It is appli- 
cable to all the purposes for which bensolo 
may be used, but is more volatile. 

Benzole is a hydrocarbon which boils at 
176° Feb., being of the same volatility as 
spirit of wine. It is manufactured in the 
same manner as the alliole, by distilling a 
little further. For many purposes it is use- 
ful to receive these two fluids together. They 
are both excellent solvents of gutta percha. 
of India-rubber, of wax, of grease and oils of 
all sorts, of mastic and many other resins, of 
copal and Anim^, by exposing them to th^ 
vapour of the fluids, so that it shall condenser 
upon the gums; of shell lac, by mixture 
with alcoholic or pyroxyHc spirits ; of cam- 
phor, sulphur, phosphorus, and many other 
substances. Ihe solutions of gutta percha 
or caoutchouc, or these mixed, when spread 
on a smooth surface, leaves on drying, which 
it does rapidly, a varnish, which may be 
peeled off in the form of a thin membrane ; 
or, spread on the skin, forms an excellent 
plaster. They may be used as substitutes 
for ether in various pharmaceutical pro- 
cesses, and for many of the purposes to 
which alcohol Is applied. Benzole, if in- 
haled, acts in the same way as chloroform, 
and either in procuring insensibility to pain. 
It is applloable to the manufacture of per- 
ftime, as described under " nitro-benxole.'^ 
Benzole and alliole form the part of coal- 
tar, which ia separated troth It by treating 
in the manner proposed for bituminous mat- 
ters in general; and, equally with such 
spirituous substances prepared from thestf 
other tars is applicable to the production of 
vapourized air, in the manner described in 
the third part of the invention. It is also 
particularly applicable to the manufacture of 
fhel for vapour lamps, as described also in 
the third part. 

Thluole h less volatile than benzole, and 
has nearly til the same properties as oosunon 



44 



Mansfield's new burmiho oil8» laupsi bu&hkrs, etc. 



rectified coel-naphtba ; it consists ofeo much 
of the light coal-naptha as remains after the 
separation of the benzole by rectifioatioii» 
and of the camphole, as described next. It 
is less ToUtile than benzole, and more yoUl- 
tile than oil of tarpentine ; and is applicable 
to all the purposes of the best coal-naphtha, 
when purified, as described in the second part 
of the invention. 

Camphole is obtained by distilling off the 
toluole from the naphtha, and then rectify- 
ing the residue. The time when the recdver 
it to be changed is known by applying a 
lighted match to the surface of samples taken 
from the still- worm ; when such samples no 
longer take fire on the surfisce, the camphole 
is collected, till tiie temperature in the retort 
has risen so high that solder melts on it, or 
till oil heavier than water distils over. This, 
when rectified, forms a substitute for cam- 
phine, and is useful as a solvent, when a 
very volatile fluid is not required. It is of 
nearly the same qualities as oil of turpen- 
tine. 

MortwU is prepared by rectifying the 
heavy or '< dead oil" of tar, reserving what 
comes over between the temperatures about 
330"" Fah. and 500'' Fah. When purified 
according to the method of part second, it 
forms a substitute for fixed oils in many 
purposes to which they are applied ; and, by 
mixture with spirit, as described in part 
three, forms an exodlent lamp oiL It is alao 
useful in makbg Tarnishes. 

NitrO'bemxole is a fragrant heavy oil, 
made by dinolving the light oils of ooal-tar, 
for which rectified benzole is preferred, in 
strong nitric add, and then diluting the add 
with water, which separates the oil formed 
by the process. This oil is useful as a sub- 
stitute for oil of bitter almonds in perfuming 
soap, or in flavouring confBctionary, and has 
no poisonous properties. 

7%i Second Part 
Is a method of purifying and deodorizing 
bituminous and empyreumatic oils, which is 
partly applicable to sudi substances in gene- 
ral, and psrtiy to some of the special sub- 
stances manufactured according to the first 
part of the invention. 

The agents used In deodorizing the em- 
pyreumatic oUs are nitric and nitro-hydro- 
^oric adds, or their salts, mixed witii oU 
of vitriol, and alkaline leys, the oils bdng 
shaken with the adds and allowed to stand 
in vessels containing them, and then dis- 
tilled. The purification of the oils with 
alkalies, which is particularly applicable to 
the less volatile fluids in coal-tar, partiea- 
larly to that which is called *' mortnole " in 
the qMdfication, is conducted by digesting 
the oUs with the alkaline solutions for a long 



time at the bdling temperature of the eola- 
tions, in an apparatua connstiog of a boiler 
or digester, surmounted by a head or eon- 
denser, in which all the vapours are Uqnifiad 
again and retured into the digester. 

The fluid called benzole is purified in 
different methods according to the purpOM 
for which it is required. If required for 
the purpose of illumination, it is pniiiled 
by nmply washing it with adds moeh di- 
luted; if required for refined nses, it la 
purified by treatment with ooneentratad 
adds, as described for empyreasnatic oils in 
general ; and is then further treated by re- 
frigeration, by which it is solidified; it is 
then, while solid, submitted to pressure at a 
low temperature, by which means it is ob- 
tained quite pure, and is now called " abao- 
Inte benzole." 

The T%ird Part 

Conoemsthe application of volatile hydro- 
earbons, and other spirituous subsCanoea 
oontaining mudi carbon, to the purposea of 
artificial ^ght, by mixing their vapour with 
such gases or vapours as contain little car- 
bon, so as to produoe a white light vritbout 
smoke. This is accomplished in two me- 
thods. The first is that of passbg a ear- 
rent of atmospheric air, or of hydrogen, 
carbonic oxide, or other non-luminiferoos 
gases, through reservoirs to which hydro- 
carbons or spirituous substances are siqp- 
plied, whjdi contain so much carbon and 
are so Tolatile as to give off to the camnt 
of air so modi vapour that the air shall be 
BoMed to bum with a white flame, at a 
burner at a distance from the reeervoir. The 
hydyro-carbonous fluid preferred for this 
purpose is crude benzole, prepared froni 
cod naphtha. The current of air, if atmo- 
spheric dr be used, is obtained by any 
known method of produdng a oontbiuona 
flow of air through pipes, sudi as by bel- 
lows or pumps, working mto ** gasonMters ;" 
and the system ia applicable on a large scalOf 
suited dther to the lighting of booses or 
towns, or on a small scale, in whiofa the 
whole appantus may be comprised in a table- 
lamp. A table-lamp is also constructed, la 
which the flame is made to supply itself, by 
means of its own dnnght, with the vapor- 
ized air wliich is burned. 

The other method, in which the redoctloa 
of carbon is effected, is by mixing the vola- 
tile hydrocarbons with spirits containing leea 
carbon, such aa alcohol, or pyroxylie apirit, 
acetone, Aec. Of tliese spirits, pyrozyUc 
spirit is preferred on aeoount of its eheiop- 
nem ; and different hydroearbona are need 
according to the sort of lamp-fad required. 
For vapour lampe or portable gas lamps, 
•ochas are already In am on the Ceotineot 



OttTA PERCIIA PATBNTB.— NO. XII. 



45 



ht Miztsrat of dchol and of oil of tnrpen- 
Unet bensole ii preferred on acoonnt of its 
volatUHy. For eamphine lampi or commoa 
Aigasd lamp* the ** camphole'' made from 
eaal*tar la prefened. For ooarier lamps, 
the •* ■Mrtaole"or rectified dead oil is used 
k tkft Miztwe. All that is neoessary is to 
obtain pyrozylic spirit soifideiitly fireo from 
vaftsr to enable it to dissolve the oils, and 
fbat to mix them in the required proper-* 
tfona, and to keep the miztore so that the 
sfkH shall not eraporate. The proportions 
bsiB isr vspoor lamps are, two parts hj 
BMSsme of pyrasylie spirit to one part of 
ooal-naphliha or bensole. 

2%e Fnurik Pari 
Rsiitai to tfie mannhctnre of lamps for 
the oonanutiott of the mixture of TolatUo 
hydroearboos and spirits deseribed in the 
niid Fstt. Tlio improTement consists of 
Ibnning a bnmer whioh is either supplied 
by a viek which fits it, or by a small quan- 
ttty ef fluid kept at a eonstant levd in the 
bvisr by pressure, so that the burner shall 
piessnt a line stit-oriiloe or jet for the escape 
of die YBponr or gas, at which jet the Ta- 
ponr is to be ignited. These burners con- 
att of two parts, a fixed wick-holder and a 
BMneabla cap, by the adjustment of which 
the sfam of the jet-slit is regulated. Hie' 
bnraen are of various forms, and admit of 
vaitooa me^fications ; the principle, which 
la exhibited in the drawings attached to the 
apec W ea t i o B, forming the subject of the 
dafan. This part of the invention com. 
prfaea alao the adaptation to the wick-holder 
•f a eone within the reservoir, so as to 
oowr chat part of the wick which is above 
the fluid and below the wick-holder, and 
thna to prevent evaporation from the surflice 
•f tfaewidr. 

Tk€ Fifth Pari 
Gensiste of an improvement in the oonstruc- 
tMtt of gas-burners, specially suited to the 
esabosfion of gaa.or air charged with the 
vsfKNir of volatUe hydrocarbons, according 
totka mode described in the Third Part, and 
alao to the combustion of ordinary illumina- 
tingeoalgo. The burners are such that the 
ssost perfect oombustion and whiteness of the 
flanse may be insured by the adjustment of a 
moveable part or parts of the burner. They 
adasit of a variety of forms and construo- 
tlons» and may be made as Argand burners 
or aa single jets, drawings of several of which 
are attadied to the specification. Tlie prin« 
dple in all is the same. One or more parts 
of the burner, which are caps made in the 
form of cones and cylinders, are made to be 
moveable by the hand on a fixed part, so as 
to regulate with great nicety the sixe of the 



orifice from which the gas eifiapes, by this 
means altering the luminosity of the flame, 
which is more or less luminous according 
to the rapidity with which the vapourised 
air or gas is brought into contact with the 
snrroimding air. 

OUTTA PBRCHA PATBNT8. — NO. XII. 

[Patent dated December 30, 1847, for " Improve- 
mentfl in the Treating or Manufkcture of Gutta 
Pexcha, or anj of the varletiea of Caoutcbouc."* Pa- 
tentees, Thomas Hancock, of Stoke Newington, 
and Reuben Phillips, of Islington, Chemist. Spo- 
eiflcation enrolled June SO, 1847.] 

The patentees state that their improve- 
ments consist in the dissolving of gutta per* 
cfaa, or of any of the varieties of caoutchouc, 
or of redndng any of them to a soft, pulpy, 
and gelatinous state after they have under- 
gone the process of " vulcanization or con- 
version;" also in preparing or treating 
unvulcanized or unconverted solutions of 
any of these substances, so as to bring them 
into a vulcanized or converted state ; and, 
lastly, in the moulds employed in the mano- 
focture of articles therefrom. The terms 
''vulcanized," or ** converted," are used 
to designate certain processes by which 
these substances are rendered less liable 
to be injuriously affected by exposure 
to comparatively high temperatores, and 
which were described, the first in the speci- 
fication of a patent granted to Mr. Thomas 
Hancoek,t Nov. 21, 1843, and the second 
in that of a patent granted to Mr. Alex* 
Parkes, August, 25, 18464 

The patentees desire to be understood, 
that when employing the term gutta perchs, 
or any of the varieties of caoutchouc, as re- 
ferring to all those substances known to the 
Indians or natives of the country where they 
are produced under the names of saikwah, 
gutta tuban, gutta percha, jintawan, doUah, 
&c., and in this country of bottle, root, sheet, 
scrap, India* rubber, &c. In operating upon 
any of these materials, which have previously 
undergone the vulcanizing or converting 
process, it is* preferred to use the cut- 
tings or waste of them, as being an eco- 
nomical application of what would otherwise 
be uselesft. These cuttings, or waste, are 
first submitted to the action of rollers or 
other suitable machinery for reducing them 
to shreds and then boiled in oil of turpen- 
tine until reduced to the requisite consis- 
tency. Other solvents may be employed, 

* In a former patent of Mr. T. Hancock's (see 
ante toI. xlviil., p. 452) the phraseology used was, 
"gutta percha, and any of the oihsr varieties of 
caoutchouc." We objected to this as conveying 
something contrary to fact, and are now glad to see 
that the mystiacation is not persisted in.— Ed. 
M.M. 

t See J/«cA. Mag., vol. xUi., pp. IIS and 150. 

X See Mrck, Mog., vol. xlv.. p. 400. 



46 



WBVKLr LI0T8 OV NBW BNO^IflH PATBNT8 AND DBStONS. 



•veh M cod naphtha, &o., but in that oaaa, 
in order that the lolf enta may attain to a 
degree of temperatnre tufficiently high to 
diasoWe the material, cloae veaaela muat be 
employed, for which reason oil of torpen- 
tine is preferred. 

No fixed mle, it is stated, can be given for 
the gnidanoe of the workman to enable him 
to determine the relative proportion of the 
material to the solvent, the time for con- 
ducting the operation, or the degree ot 
temperatnre, on account of the varieties of 
the material and the degree of vaicaniaatioa 
or conversion to which it has been subjected ; 
for these and other details he must rely upon 
his own intelligence, and the result of actual 
experience. 

The rule which the patentees, however, 
state that they have found to be the best, 
nnder ordinary circumstances, is to just 
eover the material, when prepared and placed 
m the veasel, with the solvent, and then to 
add about one-third more, and maintain the 
mixture at the boiling point of oil of tur- 
pentine for about from 15 to 30 minntea« 
The consistency of the mixture may sub- 



sequently be increased or ^miniabad bf 
evaporating or by the addition of oil of 
turpentine, coal-naphtha, or other solvent. 
When the material haa been rendered hard 
or homy by vulcanisation ,or oonversiota, 
the time necessary to dissolve it orrednceit 
to a soft pulpy state would be so long •• 
to render the preoediog process worthleaa. 

The mode of operating under the aeoond 
head consists in mixing from eight to twelve 
parts of sulphur with every 100 parte of 
the solid material in aolution, and then anb- 
jectiag the mixture to the neoessary d^p'ee 
of heat to produce the vulcanised or ooa- 
verted state. 

The patentee mentiona numerooa appli- 
oations of these solutions, among wUch 
may be cited waterproofing, and the empiof • 
ment of them as a mecUom for oolours Ia 
painting and in printing calico, &c. 

The improvement in moulds oonsista in 
making them of a material eaaily aolnble at 
low temperatures, such aa D'Aroet's mttal, 
ace., so that they may be broken up and 
easily removed from the moulded artioU 
without injury to then^. 



W»KLT LIST or NKW UTOUaH FATBHTf. 



BUaabeth Daldn, of No. 1» 8L Paul's Chorch- 
fMtd, LoDdou, widow, for improvemonU in 
•leaning and roasting coffee, in the apparatus and 
machinenr to be used ttierein, and also in the ap- 
paratus for making Infusions and decoctions of 
coffee. July 3 : six months. 

Nathaniel Beardmore, of 13, Great College- 
street, Westminster, for certain improvements in 
founding and constructing walls, piers, and break- 
waters, parts of which improvements are applicable 
to other structures. July 8; six months. 

John Martin, of Killylesgh Mills, Down, Ireland, 
manufacturer, for improvements in preparing aud 
dressing flax, tow, and other fibrous substances ; 
•Ad doubling, drawing, twitting, flax, tow, and other 



fibrous substanoes ; and In the maehinery to be 
used for such purposes. Julytf; six months. 

Joseph Clinton RoberUon, of 166, f leat-etieet, 
London, civil engineer, for Improvements In the 
manufacture of gas. (Being a communieatioa ) 
July 6; six months. 

George Beattie, of £dinhuq(h, builder, for en 
improved air -spring and atmospheric resisting 
power. July ; six months. 

William Edward Newton, of Chanoery-laoe, 
Middlesex, for improvements In theconatnicdoB of 
stoves, grates, furnaces, or flrcplsces, lor various 
useful purposes. July 6; six months. 

Knock Steel and WUllam Britten, of Jjunbetli, 
Surrey, manufacturers, for improvements in 4ie 
manufacture of tobacco-pipes. July 6 ; six months. 



WnKLT LIST OV DB8IGN8 FOE AnnOLBS OV UTILITT RBOTSraRBD. 

Date of No. In * 

|Ugtstra-the Re- 
tion. gister. Proprietors' Names. Addresses. Sul^ectsof DetiffBt. 

Henry Donington Nottlnghaa ••#«...«•..*. Hat-baod. 

Francis WlUetts Bas- 

sano Birmingham Roof-lamp. 

Robert and Francis 

Grassby Marton, HuU .«....«... Thnshing-maeUae. ^ 

Davidson and Arm- 
strong Manchester Spindle-valve for pumps. 

Arthur Hill Holme Liverpool Improved snfety-valye box Ibr 

steam boilers. 

WUllam Hill Greenwich .^ Flue boUer. 

Henry John Fry and 

Wm. Downs Phlpps Sloane-street, Chelsea Klaatic spring boot. 

Charles Marben ^ Warren-street, Fltzroy-square... Saddle. 

Woods and Thomas Cheapslde .„„ ^ Secure hook and flexible ditii 

fastener. 

Charles Greenway Park-street, Qrosvenor-square... Stock. 



June 29 
SO 


1482 
1483 


Julyl 


1464 


»» 


1486 


„ 


1486 


4 


1487 
1488 


•» 


1489 
1490 



1491 



At>VfiliT»BMBNT8. 47 

GUTTA PBRCHA COMPANirB WORKS* 

WHARF ROAD, CITY ROAD, 

London, Ut April, 1848. 
rpQE OUTTA PERCH A COMPANY have great pleasure in stating that the iteadilyinereaaing demaud 
' tor the Patsmt Gvtxa PsacHA Dritiko Bauds Justifica the utmost confldenoe that they are Ailly 
apOTOTed. 

Their durabilitr and strength— permanent contractility and anifamity of evbstaoce^their oon-suscep- 
tihility of injury horn contact with Oils, Grease, Acids. Alkalies, or Water— and the facility with which the 
single joint required can he made in Bands uf any length— render them supeiior lor almost all working 
parpoees, and decidedly economical. 

Goxrfwaas, Tvaiwoofallsiaes, Bouoiss, Cathstxks,Ststhsscopxs, and other Surgical Instruments; 
llouu>ivo8 fOA PicTUAS FaAXBS Slid Other decorative purposes; Wbips, Txokos; TaKMXS, Qohw, and 
CucKKX Balls, &c, in great variety. 

Patent Gutta Percha Shoe Soles. 

The applicability of Gutta Percha Soles for Bo<3ls and Shoes having been extensively and satisfactorily 
tested, we can unhesitatingly reeoromend the material prepared lor this parpose, Its merits having been 
aekaowledged by all who have tried it. Indeed, experience has proved that Gutta Percha Soles wear twice 
as long aa laathei't with great additional personal comfort; and they remain petfeotiy imptnrietw to wet 
lotil Quite worn throu^. 

Boot and Shoe Soles for Svininer Wear. 

The ihet of the total imperviousness of these Soles to water, enables the most delicate, by the use of 
them, to e»eape ihe suffering which the proverbial uncertainty of our climate, xvkv in SoMii xa, so often 
inAicta upon the incautious, and thii etkct may be secured by a Sole so thin and light, aa to afford to the 
wearer a degree of ease and comfort hitherto unattainable, in conjunction with security against damp. 

Ai Ikd *amt itwte, ike remarkabU non-conducting propertiM of Gutl* Percka afford a tnosi taiuabte pro- 
teeUom to fAsM wko are tubjeeted-io guffertng or ineonvenienee kg walking npon keated pavement*. 

The question of the durability of Gutta Percha Soles, as compared with Leather, has long since been 
decided In favour of the Former; and no instance of fsdlnre has yet come to Uie know- 
ledge of tbe Company widch may not be aaeribed to a ne^l^ct of their printed 
IMrections. 

TestimoiiiaLi relating to Shoe Solea. 

*' Of all the discoveries and inventions which have hitherto been brought into notice for (he purpose of 
piesenring the feet from damp, nothing l» comparable, either in cheapness or effioieocy, to Gutta Percha. 
Gaedenera especially, whMe daily occupations bccasion them to be much in the open air, and working or 
standLoig on wet ground, will find this pliable and simple substance of infinite value. The natural caution 
which one usually feels with respect to new things, especially when they come verg Mgkly recommended, 
presented us from listening with much attention to what we regarded as pretended excellencies. llV'e w«re, 
nowever, Induced to make the trial of a pair of ' Gutta Percha Soles,' and after the experiment of betwixt 
two and three months of daily wear, we think it right, for the sake of others, to say the Gutta Percha Soles 
are, for dryness and warmness to the feet, incomparable to anything we have ever tried. In point of dura- 
bility, It is equal, and, we think, superior to leather."— 6arif«nef«' and Farmer^ Journal, February 12, 

1MB. 

{Copg.) Lowndes-street, I2th November, 1847. 

Mt obae Sir, — I have for some time worn the Quita Pereha Solee, and am very happy to bear testi- 
mony to the admirable qualities of this substance for the purpose of Shoe-making, for it is not only very 
dufable, but perfectly impervious to wet. 

The Gutta Percka, 1 find, poi>setscs properties which render it invaluable for winter shoes, li is, com- 
martd wilk Leatker, a tlow conductor oj heat ; the efiiect of this is, that the warmth of the feet is retained, 
nowever cold the surface may bo on which the person stands, and that clammy dampness, so objectionable 
in the wear of India Rubber shoes, is entirely prevented. On flr»t using Gutta Percha shoes, the wearer 
b forcibly struck with the superior warmth and comfort which is produced by this non-conducting property, 
and I confidently predict that all those who try Gutta Percha will be steady customers.— 1 am, my dear 
8tr, yttj truly yours, . JAMES C. GUMMING, M.D. 

To C. Hancock, Esq., the Gutta Percha Company. 

QxKTLXMxv,— I have given the GuUa Percha Boot Solee what may be considered a fair trial ; namely, 
three months' constant wear on a rough gravelly road, and can bear testimony to Its usefulness : wiik proper 
core in putting them on, and a little attention afterwards, I am persuaded it will last longer than leather, 
and, being impervious to vet, will be found invaluable to persons subject to damp or cold feet. W. DIAR, 

November 4th, 1847. Principal Officer U. M. Customs, WhitsUble. 

(Copy.) Mancheater, 1st March, 1848. 

Bib,— In the month of August last I began to wear a pair of Qntta Percha Soles, put on by my ikther, 

who la a shoemaker, No. IS, Port-street, and have worn them every day since, being upwards of six 

months, and 1 am certain that, if the upper leathers were not worn out, the soles would wear a month 

longer. They have out-worn three pairs of heels, which had strong iron nails beat in.— Yours, &c., 

(Signed) ALFRJilD LAMB, 

Porter at Findlater aud Mackie's, Exchange Arcade, Manchester. 
To Mr. Henry Statham, 11, Corpotation- street. 

{Copg.) Manchester, 8th March, 1848. 

8ia,'It Is with pleasure that I bear testimony to the good qunlitles of Gutta Pf rcha Soles. You are 
aware that my occupation requires me to be on foot a great deal upon all kinob of roads and In all weathers 
and »ince I began to iKcar Gutta Percha Soles, I have nut had to complain of wet oi cold feet: the pair I 
have on now have been in almost daily use for more than lour months, and ry fear is that the 'upper 
leathers will be worn out first. 1 am quite sure that I save irom thirty to fifty per cent. In the cost of 
shoes, in consequence of my family wearing Gutta Percha Soies, and, so long as I can get them, I intend to 
wear them In preference to anything eUe 1 have seen.— Yours respectfully, THOMAS WHITEHEAD, 

To Mr. Henry Statham, 11, Corporation- street. Gas Ofllce, Town Hall, King- street. 



48 



ADVERTISEMENTS. 



To Inventors and Patentees. 

MESSRS. ROBERTSON 8c CO., 

PATSHT SOLICITOKB, 

(Of wUch firm Mr. J. C. ROBERTSON, the 
EoxTOJt of the MscH AVICI' Maoaxxmx from Its 
commencement In 1638» it principal partner,) 
undertake 

The procnratlon of Patents 
For England, Scotland, Ireland, and all Foreign 
Countrlef , and the transaction generally of all busi- 
noM relating to Patzmts. 

Speelfleatlons Drawn or Rerised. 

DU0LATMBR8, AND MBMOaANDUMS OF 
ALTBBATION PRBPAKBD AND BNEOLLBD. 

Caveats Entered and Oppositions 
Oondncted. 

CONFIRMATIONS AND PROLONGATIONS 

OF PATENTS SOLICITED. 

Searehee made for Patenti, and Copies or 

Abstracts Supplied. 

Advice on Oases submitted^ dte. die. 

MBBtas. ROBERTSON & CO. 
POSSESS THE ONLY COMPLETE REGISTRY 

OF PATENTS EXTANT, 

Commencing a.d. 1617(15 James I.) and regularly 

continued down to the present tinnr- 



The Railway Record^ 

(EDITED BY JOHN ROBERTSON, M.A.,) 

IS published early CTerr Saturday Morning, and 
contains full and exclusive Reports of all Rail- 
wnr Meetings, with the Official Documents in fUll ; 
Rallwsy Law Cases, Railway Share Lists, and 
Traffic Returns, and all matters affecting Railway 
Proprietors. It is considerably larger than any 
other Railway Paper, and is exclusively devoted to 
this branch of enterprise. 

The Bailwaif Record will be found a peculiarly 
eligible medium for Advertisers of all articles con« 
nected with Rallwav Companies, and all matters, 
whether of use or luxury, which it is sought to 
bring under the notice of Capitalists. 

Price 6d.sUmped; Office, 15S, Fleet-street, 
London. 

TO ARCtflTECTsT BUILDERsT&cT 

Coppei^wire Cord* 

RS. NEWALL & Co.'s PATENT IMPROVED 
• COPPER-WIRE CORD for WINDOW SASH 
LINES, Hot-houses, Lightning Conductors, Hang- 
ing pictures. Clock-cord, and various other purposes 
for which hempen rope has hitherto been used. This 
new and valuable Patent is ftst superseding the use 
of the hempen cord, and is strongly recommended 
to all Builders and other parties coonected with 
the above. The Wire-cord may be had wholesale, 
and specimens seen at the Office of the Patentees, 
No. 16S, Fenchurch-street, W. T. ALLEN, Agent, 
or retail of G. and J. DEANE. 46, King William- 
street, and E. PARKS, 140, Fleet street; also of 
all respectable Ironmongers. 

Now ready, price 2s., 

A Glossary of Minlnc; adn 
Smelting Terms, 

Used in EnglUh and Foreign Mining Districts. 

PUBLISHED at the Office of the Mining Jbut^ 
naif 26, Fleet-street, London ; and may be had 
of John Weale, 59, High Holborn; and through aU 
booksellers in town and country. 



To Engineers and Boiler- 
Makers* 

LAP- WELDED IRON TUBES, FOR MARINK 
AND LOCOMOTIVE STEAM-BOILERS, 
Tubes for Steam, Gas, and other purposes;— all 
sorts of Oas Fittings. The Birmingham Patent Iron 
Tube Company, 42, Cambridge-street, BirminghanB, 
and Smethwick, StaifordshiriB, mannlacture Boiler* 
and Gas Tubes, under an ezdnsive License tnm 
Mr. Richard Prosser, the Patentee. 

These Tubes are extensively used in the Boilers 
of Marine and Locomotive Steam Engines In 
England and on the Continent;— «re Stronger, 
Lighter, Cheaper, and more Durable than Bcaaa or 
Copper Tubes, and are warranted not to open In 
the weld. 

42, CAMBRIDGE-STREET, CRESCENT, 

BIRMINGHAM. 

Works— Smethwick, Staffordshire. 

LONDON WAREHOUSE— No. 68,' UPPBR 

THAMES-STREET. 



NOTICES TO CORBBSPONDEHTS. 

A corretpondeni would be obliged to " Forreeter " 
to favour kim {through our medium) with hie ad* 
drete. 

Mr. Dredg^e paper on the Sea Wall queetion U 
witheld at hierequeet, for the purpose of making e ^ 
addUione to iL 



CONTENTS OP THIS NUMBER. 

Description of the System of Ventilating adopt- 
ed at the Model Prison, Peotonville— <»«* 
engrovingt) .•...•••••.•..•••••>«. .•m«.m...*......».m« 25 

Method of Welding Iron, Steel, and Sheet Iron M 
Method of bringing out Sculpture upon Ala- 
baster 80 

On a certain Arabic Manuscript. By James 

Cockle. Esq., M.A SO 

Recent Amencan Patents SI 

Description of Harrison's Railway Cbidr-pln 

Pressing Machiue--(tpi<A engravinqe) > 81 

The Dover Harbour of ReAige.— Sir Samuel 

Bentham's Mode of Constructing Sea Walls 88 
Mr. W. B. Johnson's Roller Eccentric— Im- 
provement Buggested ............^ 85 

Low's Patent Improvements in the Manufac- 
ture of Copper ...M Z$ 

Arthur's Decimal Money, Weights, and Mea- 
sures 35 

Description of Mr. E. Humphry's Patent Im* 
provements in Steam Enfflnes, and in En- 
gines or Apparatus for Raising, Exhausting, 

and Forcing Fluids— (wiM engraioing) ^ 86 

Design for a Roury Steam Engine. By Mr. 

Stephen Sharp ^ 87 

The Gresham I^ofessoTBhips «m. 88 

Dr. Branson's Mode of Electro- Pain ting 41 

The Venetian Glass Weights 48 

Mr. C. P. Mansfield's Patent Improvements In 
the Manufacture and Purification of Spiritu- 
ous Subttances snd Oils, and in the Applica- 
tion thereof to Lighting, &c.— Abstract Speci- 

fleation 48 

The GutU Percha Patents.— No. XII. 45 

Weekly List of New English Patents 46 

Weekly List of New Articles of Utility Regis- 
tered ._.. 46 

Advextisements ^ m. ...... 47 



LONDON: Edited, Printed, and Published, by 
Joseph Clinton Robertson, of No. 166, Fleet- 
street, in the City o.f London.— Sold by A. and 
W. Galignani, Rue Vivienne, Paris; Machin and 
Co. Dublin ; W. C. Campbell and Co., Hamburgh. 



MUSEUM, REGISTER, JOURNAL, AND GAZETTE. 



No. 1301.] 



SATURDAY JULY 15, 1848. [Price 3<f., Stamped, id. 

Kdittd hj J. C. RobOTttoB, IM, Fleet-itrect. 



DR. ALBAN'8 IMPROVED STEAM BOILER. 
Kg. I. 








TOL. XLIX. 



50 



DR. AtBAN'S lUPEOVBO 8TBAM B0ILBK> 



Thb boiler is divided into three principal 
parts, Tiz : 

SA.) The generating or boiling tubes. 
B.) The vessels which serve to lead the 
steam away from the tabes, and to supply 
them with water : these vessels I denomi- 
nate heart 9 {Herzen),. 

(c.) The separators and receivers. 

In order to facilitate the explanation I 
will first give a general description, and will 
subsequently explain the oonatmotion of 
the several parts in detail. 

Ca.) The 'generating tubee are formed 
of sheet copper, one line in thickness, and 
joined with hard solder {Schlageloth). They 
have 4 inches external diameter, and may 
be from 4 feet 3 inches to 6 feet 3 inches in 
length, as more or less heating surface is 
required. They have at the back end an 
opening for cleansing them, closed by a screw 
cover. Their front ends are screwed upon 
the back plate of the heart, in such a way 
as to be easily removable in case of neces- 
sity ; as I for example when a tube is worn 
out and has to be replaced by a new one. 

The interior space of the tube communi- 
cates with that of the heart by two oval 
openings bored through the back plate of the 
latter, one above the other. The upper one 
serves to carry away the steam from the 
tube to the heart ; the lower one, to intro- 
duce the feed water in a contrary direction. 
In order to give the vapour a tendency to 
stream towards its exit openings, the tubes 
are laid a litde on the incline, the back end 
being, in a length of 4 feet, about half or 
three-quarters of an inch lower than the 
front end. 

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a 
boiler and furnace on this principle, the 
dimensions being given for a boiler of 10 
horse -power, a a, are the generating 
tubes; aa, their back or lower ends, shut by 
the screw covers ; at &d they are connected 
to the back plate of the heart, b ; c and d 
are the oval openings between the hearts 
and the tubes. The inclined position of the 
tubes is seen in this figure. 

I lay the tubes in eight rows or tiers, one 
over another, and in such wise that the tubes 
of each row stand over the interstices be- 
tween those of the row immediately below. 

Four alternate rows consist of one tube 
less than the other four, this inequality 



• From Parts III. and VI. of Dr. Alban's work 
on " The High Pressure Steam Engine," just pub- 
lished by Mr. Weale. We reviewed Parts I. and 
II. at the time of their appearance —see vol. xlvi., 
p. 569 — and shall tfike an early opportunity of be- 
stowing our critical attention on these concluding 
parts. 



being a consequence of the position; I 
arrange them in such a manner that the 
lowest row has the greater number. The 
space between the tubes I have made about 
\\ inch (a). Between the outside tubes of 
the widest rows, and the vertical walls of 
the furnace, I allow three-quarters of an 
inch space. The manner in which th^ fire 
current plays among the tubes is easily seen 
in the figure. « 

The hmrtSy as I term them (6), aie flat 
chambers, from 6 to 8 inches deep. Their 
height in the clear should in all cases readi 
40 or 42 inches ; their width depends on the 
number of tubes in the several rows; the 
rule obtains that they should be from 8 to 
12 inches wider, in the dear, than the out- 
side width of one of the widest rows. The 
object of this will appear presently. Hie 
hearts are constructed of iron ; their sides I 
make usually of cast iron, of such strength 
as to remove all danger; wrought iron, how- 
ever, may be used. The front and back 
plates are of very strong wrought iron plate* 
the former \ inch, the latter | inch thick. 
They are so tied together by several rows of 
strong iron bolts, that no bending or bulging 
out is possible (c.) They are also screwed 
to the side plates with a proportionate num- 
ber of bolts, equally strong. The joint ia 
made for the back plate with the ordinary 
iron cement, and for the front plate with 
lead, as the latter has to be opened for 
deaning. 

The hearts have the form of a rectangular 
parallelogram, with the angles of the interior 
a little rounded. In most cases their height 
is greater than their width, inasmuch as a 
greater number than six tubes in one row is 
not to be recommended. 

The generating tubes fit into an annular 
groove sunk in the back plate of the heart. 
The oval openings which form the commu- 
nication between the heart and the tubes, 
must come as close as possible to the upper 
and lower surfaces of the interior of the 



(a) I have more lately found that this distance 
may be Increased with advantage, to facilitate in 
a greater measure the cleaning of the spaces be- 
tween the tubes. I purpose to increase it to 2, or 
even 2^ inches, and to provide openings in the side 
wall of the furnace, through which proper instru- 
ments may be introduced for the purpose of clean- 
ing. They must, of course, be tightly closed when 
the furnace is in action. 

(6) This term appeared to me suitable, because 
these parts are the means of producing a proper 
circulation of the water through the tubes and other 
parts of the boiler, in the same manner as the heart 
Is of the blood in the human organism. 

(e) I have never found the least bulging of these 
plates, even with a pressure of 150 lbs. to the square 
inch. 



t>B. ALB AN S IMPROVED ITEAM BOILER. 



51 



tobe : this it particularly necessary with the 
upper openings, in order that the steam may 
pass Jreely away. The size of these open- 
ings is H inch in the longer and 1 inch in 
the shorter diameter. The manner in which 
the tubes are secured to the heart is ex- 
plained further on. 

Fig. 



The internal construction of the heart is 
peculiar, and of much importance. It is 
shown in fig. 2 in longitudinal section, look- 
ing towards the back plate and the tubes^ 
the latter being represented by dotted lines t 
a a and bb are the upper and lower oval 
openings leading from the heart to the tiibai« 
2. ' 




A ^j-iiii, yUtx\ui (Mi^/i, ■ ,^ruf "rfi <U<t<U*iiUi*«^M^ A \j \ 



r'-^o 



\ Vj g / ^-^y '^-ft-' 




Kcmo^' 




o 

O'. 






K>' 



vp^e^ 




—> — ^/ '' 






The upper one, which may be called the 
tteam opening, is to allow the steam to pass 
from the tabes to the heart ; the lower one, 
or feed opening, is to introduce the feed 
water in the opposite direction, ccc are 
cflfision plates, of strong wrought iron, fas- 
tened steam-tight to the back plate by small 
ears and screws, and projecting so as to 
fom also a joint as nearly tight as possi- 



ble with the front plate (d) when this is 
screwed on : these plates are curved in the 
form shown in the figure, dividing the heart 
into several channels, e e. The use of these 
divisions is to guide the steam issuing out 



(d) If this Joint should not be perfectly tight, it 
is of no serious consequence, as experience has 
shown. 



52 



DR. ALBAN's improved STEAlf BOILBie. 



I 

i 



of the steam openings, a a, into the vertical 
channel, /, and to keep it out of the way of 
the feed openings, b 6, that the proper 
water supply may not be interfered with. 
The width of this channel, /, depends npon 
the number of tubes in the rows. I allow 
for every tube in one of the wides( rows, one 
inch width of channel. The steam passes, 
carrying usually some water with it, from 
the channel, /, up the pipe, df into the 
separators. 

It remains to show how the circulation is 
completed: t is a pipe (which, when the 
sides of the heart are of cast iron, may be 
cast with them) passing vertically down the 
side opposite the pipe, d, and opening about 
3 inches from the bottom of the vessel; 
through this a stream of water constantly 
descends from the receivers above, turning 
up the channel, h, and gradually supplying 
the place of that carried away in mixture 
with the steam, as well as introducing itself 
through the feed openings, 66, ^inco the 
tubes, to supply the evaporation. The 
arrows in the figure will clearly explain how 
the circulation proceeds, and it will easily 
be understood how the steam, collecting 
by its own levity in the upper part of the 
chambers, e e, is guided away by the pecu- 
liar form of the division plates, without 
interfering with the water in the lower part 
of the chambers, or impeding the flow of the 
supply to the tubes. The steam, as may 
easily be imagined, carries upwards water 
mechanically mixed with it, and this is sup- 
plied by a gradual reflux, partly from the 
space, ff, and partly from the chambers, e e. 

The depth of the heart from the front to 
the back plate should be such that the steam 
may not form too deep a sheet at the upper 
part of the chambers, eeil allow for every 
tube in one of the widest rows li inch 
'U^jitU of the heart. Some space should be 
Icit at the top and bottom of the vessel, the 
iotniGT sfarring for steam and the latter for 
water room. ^ 

e is i\ !)top-cock for emptying the boiler : 
f h a smaller one, situated 1 inch above 
thp level of the uppermost row of tubes ; it 
serves as a gauge-cock in case of the usual 
tf [Iter flange in the receiver standing very 
Xo-Wf nnd when doubt is entertained (before 
firi^ ii ]nit under the boiler) whether any of 
tha tubes nre dry. If water flows from this 
^ocb, Ihv vessel may be heated, especially 
a« the lovtjl rises when the water begins to 
boiJ. 

i'lotn th!J upper part of the heart rise 
twn ptfirsr of wluch incidental mention has 
nlr«<ni1y be«a made. One of these serves to 
r^nrrf Jtwuy the steam from the heart into the 
it^itimli}Ti ; and its cross section, an oblong 
j-ecUuglc, must have its dimensions propor* 



tionate to the steam-generating snrfiscd Of 
the tubes ; namely, for every 10 square feet 
of surface, the pipe should have about I 
square inch area in the clear. This pipe 
has a curved flanoh by which it is fastened 
with screw-bolts to the separator, and the 
joint made tight with iron cement. If the 
sides of the heart are of cast iron, this pipe, 
as well as the following one may be cast 
upon them. 

The other pipe is of smaller area, viz. 1 
square inch to every 25 square feet of heat- 
ing surface. In every other respect it re- 
sembles the former one. Its use has been 
already explained, namely, to lead back the 
water into the heart. When the sides are of 
wrought iron, this tube must be a separate 
wrought iron one inserted into the heart, and 
reaching nearly to the bottom.(«) 

The separators and receivere are always 
of wrought iron, formed of plates one-fourth' 
to three-eighths of an inch thick, well rivet- 
ed together, and provided with strong cast 
iron end covers, similar to those in my 
first-described boiler. The diameter of these 
vessels must never exceed 18 inches, thit 
si^e being sufficient for the largest boiler. 

If only one heart is used, one separator 
and one receiver of small diameter are sof- 
ficieot ; but when much power is wanted, it 
is better to make use of more hearts than to 
increase the number of tubes beyond six in 
each row ; two of these with tubes 6 fbet 3 
inches long, and six in number in the 
lowest row, furnish steam enough for an 
engine of GO-horse power. 

The separators and receivers are both of 
equal dimensions, and are placed horizon- 
tally, as shown in the figures. The pipe 
which conveys the steam from the heart 
enters at the front end of the separator, c, 
while the steam and the water are carried 
from the back end into the receiver d ;— the 
former by the pipe m connecting the upper 
part, or steam space, of the two vessels 
together ; the latter by the tube n, forming 
a communication between their lower or 
water spaces. Both those connecting tubes 
are of equal area, namely, 1 square inch to 
25 square feet of heating surface of the 
tubes. The steam is carried to the engine 
from the Aront end of the receiver, while 
the water descends, also from that end, by 
the pipe h into the heart, to supply the place 
of that evaporated and carrieid up in me- 
chanical mixture with the stream. The re- 
ceiver is also provided with a safety-valve 
or valves, and an index float, all similar to 
those formerly described. These as well as 



(e) These two pipes mifrht, to keep up the ana- 
lo^y, be called an artery aiid a vein respectively. - 
Tr. 




WALKBfiS PATENT HYDRAULIC ENGIKE. 



5a 



tlie Bteam-pipe ihonld be as near the front 
end as possible, where the water is most at 
rasL 

Tlie dimensions and proportions of the 
separators and receivers depend on the cubic 
content of the hearts. I have adopted very 
simple mles on this point, and hare found 
tbeni to answer all my expectations and re- 
quirements, although this boiler is yet com- 
pantiTely in its infancy. As far as my ex- 
perience has at present gone, I recommend 
that the cubic content of the separators and 
reeehere combined, should be equal to the 
sum of that of the hearts and generating 
tubes. Hie length should exceed that of the 
boikir-tiibea by one-half, and when much 
room is required, the number should be in- 
creased, rather than tliat they should ex- 
ceed 18 inches in diameter. 

A large boiler of this description, 
whicii I have already constructed for an en- 
gine of 30-horse power, has two hearts, 
each with twenty-eight tubes, lying in eight 
rows, one above another ; and I have used 
two separators, with a single receiver be- 
tween them, and connected with the hearts. 
Hus boiler has not only fulfilled, but far 
exceeded my eiqpectations ; the heat is so 
perfectly ^plied, the steam production so 
regular, the water level so quiet, and the 
whole so safe, trustworthy, and convenient, 
that its advantages in tiiese respects can 
sddom be equalled in the most perfect 
boflers of the ordinary construction. 

Ihe action of this boiler has already in a 
great measure been explained. The tubes 
abstract tiie heat from the fire current passing 
among them, and impart it to the water 
within. The steam collects in the upper 
party and passes through the upper oval 
openings into the heart ; an operation facili- 
tated by the inclined position of the tubes. 
The steam having reached the interior of 
the heart, follows the direction given it by 
the division plates, flowing upwards and 
sideways in the canal, /^ and thence by the 
pipe, d, into the separator. When the dimen- 
sions are suitably proportioned, this goes on 
without much disturbing the water in the 
lower part of the channels, e e, which con- 
stantly covers the lower ovfd opening, allow- 
ing the water at all times to flow into the 
tabes to supply the evaporation. This 
water, may, however, gently follow in some 
measure the direction of the current of 
the steam, being supplied constantly afresh 
firom the canal, h, and pipe, t. The steam, 
when it reaches the pipe,/, rises unhindered 
throu|^ that and the pipe, dt into the sepa- 
rator, and in so doing carries water along 
with it, causing a strong ebullition in the 
fore end of the separator. Since, however, 
the water surface in this vessel is of con- 
sldenble extent, the steam, passing towards 



the hinder part of the vessel, finds room to 
develope itself, separating continually more 
and more from the water, and at the back 
end this separation becomes complete. The 
steam and water then pass quietly through 
their respective pipes, m and n, into the 
receiver, in which a perfectly quiet water 
level is maintained, both fluids moving gra- 
dually towards the fore end, where the 
steam is carried off to the engine, and the 
water is returned to the heart, to pursue its 
labyrinth-like way as before. The water 
thus follows a constant circulation, from the 
h^art into the separator, from this into the 
receiver, and back into the heart again. 

I have found this arrangement perfectly 
satisfactory, not only in preventing water 
being carried with the' steam to the engine, 
but also in retaining a perfectly quiet water 
level in the receiver, even when the water 
surface bore but a very small proportion to 
the evaporation. How seldom oitlinary tu- 
bular boilers fulfil these conditions is well 
known. 



walkbr's patent btDbaulic enginb. 
We had the pleasure of inspecting this 
week a hydraulic steam engine of a new con- 
struction, lately patented by Mr. John 
Walker, already so well and favourably 
known to the public for his water elevator 
and other clever hydraulic contrivances (see 
vol. xli. 373—390, vol. xUii. 430.) With- 
in one framework, covering a space of no 
more than 4 feet square, there is included 
not only the hydraulic engine itself, but a 
steam engine for working it. There are two 
steam-cylinders, each 11 inches in diameter, 
and immediately beneath them are two water- 
cylinders, each 24 inches hi diameter. From 
the cross-heads above the steam-cylinders, 
and attached to thb steam-pistons, connect- 
ing-rods pass down, and are bolted to plat- 
forms which carry the water-pistons. The 
water-cylinders are open at the bottom, and 
are immersed in a cast-iron well, fitted with 
sluices, to admit water applicable for dram- 
ing. The water-cylinders terminate at the 
upper part in a capacious valve-box, com- 
municating with the delivery-main, which ib 
also furnished with sluice-doors for dis- 
charging the water inland or outwards. The 
valves in the water-cylinders and pistons are 
of a novel and excellent construction ; con- 
sisting of a large number of rolled iron 
tubes, which lie in circular seatings across 
the piston, rising and falling in guides which 
limit their motion. By this arrangement a 
very free passage is aflForded to the water, 
and the valve acts without the slightest 
shock, even when the engine is working at a 
high velocity. The steam-cylinders are sin- 
gle acting, steam being admitted alternately 



54 



THV MODEL I0D0IN6 HOUSES FOB THE WOEKINO CLASSES. 



between them, by a sUde-Tahre worked by an 
eccentric on tbe crank-shaft, which connects 
the two steam-pistons, and carries a fiy* 
wheel to regulate the action of the engine. 

With the steam at a pressure of 35 lbs. 
per inch, an engine of this sort is stated to 
be capable of raising no less than 6,000 
gallons of water 8 feet high per minute ; 
and Mr. Walker is in the habit of contract- 
ing with his customers that such shall be the 
duty performed. 

The great power of this engine, combined 
with the; simplicity of its action and small 
liability to derangement, recommend it as 
peculiarly suitable for dndnage and irri^- 
tion ; operations which are commonly most 
required where expert hands are scarce. A 
common farming labourer may be made a 
perfect master of such an engine as this in a 
week's time. 

CVTLS&'S PATENT LAP WBLDED lEOIT 

TUBES. 
[Patentee, Job Cutler, of Birmingham, C. E. 
Patent dated January 15, 1848, for certain Improve- 
ments in Welded Iron Pipes or Tubes to be Used as 
the Fines of Steam Boilers. Specification enrolled 
July IS, 1848.] 

The patentee states that the object of hia 
iuTention Is to produce lap-welded iron 
tnbet or pipes, so formed as to give increased 
straigth to those parts which are exposed 
to wear, without additional weight to the 
entire length of the tube, and thereby to 
obriate the evila to which boiler tubes are at 
present exposed. He proposes to effect this 
by making the internal diameter of the tube 
greater at one end than at the other, instead 
of its being the Same or uniform throughout, 
as has hitherto been the case; the txtemal 
diameter remaining, howcTer, the same, and 
uniform throughout the entire length of the 
tube. The tube will, of course, be cylindri* 
cal upon the exterior, and conical upon the 
interior surfMe. The increased thickness of 
metal at the one end is to be drawn firomthe 
remaining portion of the entire length of the 
tnbe. And further, the operation is effected 
at one heat, so that the ductility of the iron 
of wliich the tubes are composed shall re- 
main unimpaired. 

The modm optrtmdi is as fbllows : — ^The 
patentee employs a series of grooTcd rolls, 
moved by suitable toothed wheels and a 
mandril, with a conical bulb or head, the 
stem of which is of increasing diameter to- 
wards the opposite end. I^e skelp, after 
being properly prepared , as is usual in the ma- 
nufacture of lap-welded iron tubes, is heated 
and passed between the first of the series of 
rolls. It is then welded over the conical 
bulb and forced, at the same time, over the 
stem of the mandril. The mandril is held 
by a grip, attached by a hinge thereto in a 
stop, so as to allow of its being lowered and 



passed, after the conical bulb has been re- 
moYed, between the second series of rolls ; 
the diameter of the groove of which is 
smaller than that of the first series. The 
tube, with the mandril still inside, is then 
passed through the third series of rolls ; the 
groove of which is smaller than that of the 
second series. The object of these succes- 
sive rollings, after the skelp has been welded 
on the mandril, is to remove any irregu- 
larities upon either of the surfaces, and to 
make the edges of the tube perfectly smootk 
and uniform. The tube is then taken to the 
drawing bench, in front of which is .a stop» 
and against which the pipe rests. Tlie stop 
is furnished with a hole to allow of tlfe 
passage of the grip of the mandril, which is 
held tight by a pair of pliers, and, the bench , 
being made to move while the pipe remains 
stationary, the mandril is withdrawn. 

When it happens that the mandril adheres 
too lightly to the tube, it is proposed to heat 
it in a muffle or furnace, then to cool the end 
which rests against the stop, and repeat the 
above operation, or to roll it cold between 
three rollers, as is usually done in straighten- 
ing shafting. 

— ♦ — 

TBE MODEL LODGING HOUSES POK THB 
WORKING CLASSES. 

To the Lord AtMey. 

My Lord,-*Report speaks of yon as a 
'' proud, good, honourable man." Yott 
have found fame throughout the land— fame 
for benevolence ; but that is a very cheap 
virtue — scarcely a rirtue at all* it is so mvdbi 
of a pleaaure. He must be a horrible 
tigrine beast who feels, pleasure in malevo- 
lence, to say nothing of the trouble it most 
give ; but benevolence is really so easy, so 
pleasant an after-dmner, wine and walniita 
accompaniment, Such an ornament of th^ 
tea-table, that I cannot conceive a geatle- 
man willing to exist without it. T6 pat a 
chubby ploughboy on the head, or rituperste 
" Moses " in behalf of distressed semp- 
stresses, is positively amiable, and at the 
same time pleasant exercise. There can be 
no doubt about the benevolence. 

Beneficence^ my Lord, is a virtue of ui- 
other character, of much sterner stnff— itis 
the difference between willingi or rather 
wishing and doing, and not merely doing, 
but doing effectively. When the warmth of 
your temperament prompted you to embark 
in the needlework line for the purpbse of 
shaming Moses by your higher wages, yon 
gave much gladness to those you employed, 
for the time you employed them, and to the 
numerous class of benevolent people Hr 
and near, who found in your deeds subject 
for much pleasant conversation. But it did 
not last, it could not last, for it was based 
on a fallacy; your doing ynM not effiwtiTey 



THE MODEL LODGING HOl^^ES FOR THE WORKIKG CLASSES. 



55 



your money was wasted, and your intended 
beneficence proved to be only a beneYolence, 
raising false hopes which were doomed to 
nHimate disappointment. Beneficence is 
not diUUanie work, whatever benevolence 
may be, saying nothing of ostentation. 

A gentleman named Brooke, under the 
impulse of benevolence, embarked his pri- 
vate fortune in a ship and crew, and, un- 
aided and unsanctioned, save by his own 
great heart, determined to rescue a race of 
savages from the thraldom of ignorance and 
vice, and found a new empire. With cou- 
rse undaunted, intellect unclouded, skill 
naing with the emergency, he was success- 
fal in his enterprise, and became an eastern 
ptinoe by the voluntary election of the 
people. He was a truly beneficent man. 
Btitain hath no worthier son than he — 
though many bishops. 

Creditable is it to you, my Lord, that 
after your failure in the needle line, you did 
not turn away in disgust from the work of 
doing good. You had taken pains to ascer- 
tain that the condition of the working 
daaaes was not favourable to the develop- 
ment of the domestic virtues, and you were 
determined to do what in you lay to improve 
tiieir condition. It is not expected Uiat a 
nobleman should know much, about how the 
constructors of his house and furniture 
may live ; but you, my Lord, waived that 
^ privilege of your rank, and not taking the 
word of the physidan, examined for yourself. 
Ton were convinced, and determined to join 
others in an act of true beneficence — ^helping 
the poor to help themselves, in order to cease 
to be poor. You resolved to build a pattern 
lodging house. The resolve has been carried 
into execution, as I find by the papers, and 
if in criticising it I happen to err, the fault 
mnst rest wi£ the reporter, as I am not at 
present enabled to examine Uie building. 

Your site is chosen on unmitigated Lon- 
don clay, about 300 feet above the water 
%>rings. It is near old S^ Pancras burying 
^ound, not a favourable locality for health, 
if the funerals are continued now as for- 
merly ; but the site is cheap, and perhaps 
your influence will get the nuisance of the 
burial ground abated. It is not a good 
neighbourhood. True it is, that the poor 
cannot expect to oe located in Hyde Park 
Gardens, but there is land enough in the 
vidiuty of London of a healthy character, 
and far cheaper than that you have chosen, 
were due advantage taken of modem ap- 
pliances, in the shape of railways, to get 
access to it. 

Tour plan, my Lord, is by no means new. 
Twenty years ago it was proposed in the 
MeehamcM* Magazine^ on a larger and more 
oomprehenaive scale, under the title of 



" Better Housing the Working Classes."* 
But it is not to be expected that your Lord- 
l^p should have read the MechamcM* Maga- 
zine in those days. The first person who 
practically put such a plan in operation was, 
I believe, Mr. MacGregor Laird, at Birken- 
head. The houses there are not quite earthly 
paradises more than those of your Lord- 
ship, but, compared with the dwellings of 
the working dasaes in Liverpool, samples of 
the ** wisdom of our ancestors," they are 
practical paradises. Times have not been 
fa^urable since their 'erection, but they are 
thoroughly appreciated. The present writer 
remembers a case of a labouring man who 
lived in a festering den called a cottage. 
The agent came to demand rent : " Rent 1" 
exclaimed the man, ** you ought to pay me 
for trying to dry the place. Why I grow 
mouldy as I lie in bed." The Birkei^ead 
dwellings are thoroughly dry', but occasion- 
ally the anti-rent principle of Ireland ob- 
taina there. Irish lodgers get in possession, 
are more comfortable than ever in their lives 
before — pay no rent — take the full benefit 
of the English law that '* every man's house 
is his casUe" — ^and smile contemptuously at 
any agent seeking to dislodge them. ** The 
world is not their friend," and th^it is the 
first " world's law" they ever found benefit 
firom. I trust you will not be disheartened^ 
my Lord, should you occasionally meet with 
lodgers of this description. As we sow so 
must we reap, and the dog that has been 
often beaten wUl occasionally snap at the hand 
that merely seeks to caress him. You are 
on the right track now, away from the fidse 
lights of the* Needles, though still several 
points out of your true course, which lee- 
way you will have to fetch up. 

The impetuosity of compassion has pre- 
vented you from ascertaining the best mode 
of accomplishing your object, as the cha- 
ritable lady, when in a hurry, gave a 
cheesecake to a starving chimney-sweep, in- 
stead of its value in bread. Shall we begin 
at the beginning, and endeavour to ascertain 
what are the requisites for '* better housing 
the working classes," or rather the bett 
kind of dwellings for the working classes— 
a piece of knowledge which, if it can be 
attained, may be of very great service also 
to the non- working classes who may wish to 
attain the maximum of personal comfort, 
with the minimum of labour to the working 
portion of the community. Of course, we 
do not include that portion of non- workers 
who experience a morbid delight in catching 
a white man, and coloring hb externals in 
the worst possible taste, his lowest extremi- 
ties black, an adjacent portion white, break- 

* Mtck. Mag., vol. zvL,p. 165. 



56 



THE MODEL LODGING HOUSES FOR THE WORKING CLASSES. 



ing away in the mid-districts into rermilion, 
fading above into yellow, and the whole snr- 
monnted with sky blue. It is certainly no^ 
good taste to conyert a man to a bad likV 
ness of a parrot ; but as it must be evident 
that such persons are desirous only to 
attract attention by externals ; of coarse the 
greater number of persons they can employ 
uselessly, the better will their object be 
attained. With them your Lordship can 
have nothing in common. '* My gracious \" 
said an urchin of New York on bdbolding an 
English carriage with three footmen in livery, 
"well if it doesn't take three Britishers 
to make a nigger I" 

A human dwelling requires the external 
walls to be of considerable thickness in a 
climate like that of England, to exclude 
cold in winter and heat in summer ; and if 
the walls can be made hollow, with air 
enclosed in the spaces, this object wiU be 
• best attained. Here, however, the wisdom 
of our ancestors interferes — the venerable 
brick duties prescribing, Mede and Per- 
sian fashion, that the sites shall be no 
other than 9 ins. x 4^ ins. x 2^ ins. No- 
thing larger shall be made, say our brick 
Solons ; and thus, as was the case with glass, 
improvement is arrested on the threshold. 
That legislator who shall abolish this mon- 
strous folly, will be looked up to ever after, 
and regarded by the productive classes as a 
veritable « brick "—the brick of bricks— 
the brick without end — as the vernacular 
has it. The good that will result firom such 
an achievement will entitle any legislator of 
moderate capacity to repose on his laurels 
for the remainder of his life, and have a 
column of imperishable brick erected to him 
after his death ; for such will bricks be, when 
skill and industry are freed from their 
shackles. Your endeavours are arrested in 
limine^ my Lord, and you must lay dose 
siege to this evil ere you can bring house- 
building to perfection. About it, then ! — 
gather all the brick-makers and brick-users 
around you, and cram the *' House" with the 
mass of complaints with which they will 
furnish you to serve as a groundwork for a 
sweeping brick act. Stick to the bricks, 
and confine yourself to simple abolition of 
all and everything relating to them. Resolve 
them into the condition of brick-earth, to be 
dealt with by brick -makers. 

I did not reflect how far my path would 
lead when I began to address you, but being 
now too far advanced to retreat, I must go 
on. The best and most durable bricks that 
are made, are the '* Staffordshire blue 
bricks." They are half metallic, half vi- 
treous, and consequently they are non- 
absorbimt. Tliey are as durable as glass ; 
bat the mode of using them is not analogous 
to their texture ; they are put together in 



walls with common mortar, and there is no 
bond, as when bricks and mortar are alike 
porous. The mortar merely serves as a 
kind of plaster cast to them : as a sound 
material, nothing can be better. 

There is a certain thickness of material be- 
yond which fire cannot penetrate without great 
cost. The ordinary brick in use has attained 
this limit. But if the bricks were made in 
the form of a box, with one aide open — ^say 
two feet long, one foot wide, and one foot 
deep, the thickness of the material being 
two inches, these large bricks could be 
fired as easily as the small ones. Bricks 
thus made could be formed so as to groove 
or tongue one into the other ; and with a 
little arrangement of shapes for angles and 
openings, hollow walls could be built of 
greater strength than solid ones, perfectly 
impervious to water, and requiring very little 
cement to make them air-tight; and such 
cement, besides being waterproof, should be 
of a slightly elastic material, as asphalte, or 
a similar substance, in order to prevent 
cracking. The sides of these bricks should 
be roughened for the plaster, and some 
should be formed" with projecting string 
courses whereon to lay the floors. 

At present it is a practice to place a layer 
of asphalte beneath the foundation of the 
walls, to prevent moisture from rising. 
This on account of the porous nature of the 
bricks. But the bricks are equally exposed 
above the foundation to the moisture of the 
earth and to the rain above the earth. 
Bricks made of non-porous materials are 
free from this objection. 

In order to have health in a house it is 
necessary that it should be warm and dry. 
These two conditions are precisely those 
essential to combustion. It is well known 
that of late years many public and other 
buildings have been bumMl down more fre- 
quently than formerly. The cause of ^lis 
is, that houses and public buildings were 
formerly constructed with little regard to 
comfort, and, he]i% damp and cold, did not 
readily catch fire. This is mostly the case 
with the dwellings of the poor. Since then 
they have been artificially warmed in various 
modes— by stoves, hot air, steam, and water 
pipes — and being warm and dry, are, like 
tinder, ready to catch. The only remedy 
for this is, to make them fire- proof, t. e., to 
construct of metal, stone, brick, tile, or 
slate those parts which are usually made of 
wood. To build a new house of combustible 
materials now, and afterwards to insure it, 
is an absurdity that can only arise from the 
circumstance, that houses are mostiy made to 
sell by speculating builders, and not as 
investments. 

There are two kinds of fire-proof build- 



THE MODEL LODGING HOUSfiS tOE ilHB WORKING CLASSES. 



f>7 



ingBy one kind in which there is no oombni- 
tible material whatever, the other, in which 
ererj apartment containing combustible ma« 
teriab is separated from every other apart- 
ment by non-combastible materials. 

Beyond dryness and warmth there is an- 
other essential consideration — Tentilation. 
Moist exhalations are continually proceeding 
from human bodies as well as breathed air, 
and without perfect ventilation these cannot 
be got rid of. 

hk warming there are two considerations. 
Hie air for tiie lungs requires to be warm 
and pure ; but the air which is pleasant to 
the lnngs» will not suffice to warm the exte- 
rior of the body and keep up the circulation 
hi sedentary people. For this purpose, the 
ndiant beat of an open fire is essential. 

The warm air should be a genial atmo- 
sphere pervading the whole building — ^the 
open fires confined to particular localities. 

The next consideration is light. This 
can only be well attained by making the 
width of the street at least twice the height 
of the buildings. The artificial light should 
be gas. 

nie next consideration is water, both hot 
and cold. Tbis should be carried to the 
leiy top of the building by machine force, 
and allowed to descend by its own gravity, 
distributing it as required. 

VoT the purpose of moving foel, food, and 
other wdghtSv there should be machine lifts 
from the bottom to the top of the building, 
and %ht iron rails inserted in the floors of 
the pasnges to run the baskets or boxes on. 
Easy stairs should be provided for ascent 
to the upper stories ; but, inasmuch as the 
higher stories are the most healthy, and the 
more stories the less proportion of roof, it 
is desirable to have many stories, as m Paris 
or Edinburgh ; and to obviate the only ob- 
jection to this, machine lifts should be pro- 
vided, constantly ascending and descending 
at a slow rate. Londoners will have an idea 
of ttJs from the plan of the Colosseum. 

To buUd on the small scale is hr less 
eeonomie than on the large, as it would 
limit the advantages. For example, a steam 
engine is essential to the estabUshment for 
many purposes of labour-saving. As you, 
my £ordy and your coUeagues, are powerful 
enough, of course you will be willing enough 
to set the best example. I will proceed on 
the lafiger scale with a builduig for the 
worldng dssses in a manufacturing district, 
whether of food, clothing, or other articles. 
In the mean time, you will remember, not 
the " first mover," but the first fixture—the 
bricks ! I>o by them what Sir Robert Peel 
has done by the glass. And will you excuse 
my suggesting to yon that the best mode of 
ascertaining what are tiie needs of those 



who are their own servants and helpers, i«, 
to make the trial in person ? Surrounded 
by servants to forestell every wish, appli- 
ances of every kind to administer to the most 
refined luxury, it is not possible to carry in 
the imagination all the innumerable details 
which are essential to make up that luxury. 
Were you to put yourself for a week into 
the position of the Douglass moss troopers^ 
when 

" He that had a Iwnny boy 
Sent out hit hone to grass, 
And he that had nae bonny boy 
His ain servant he was ;" 

»at the end of the time yon would doubtless 
know the wants of a groom. Try the lodg- 
ings for a week, my Lord. No help but 
your own handis and head, upon your 
honour. 

I think you will agree with me that in cer- 
tain things the handworkers of the community 
are entitled to have an equal share with the 
head-workers or leisure classes, precisely as 
the officers of a ship are entitled to no bet- 
ter rations in the common stock than the 
crew of that ship. What the officers have 
in addition is a question of luxury, but the 
commoners ought to be provided with food 
and warmth to enable them to maintain 
good bodily health, a larger allowMice being 
given when under hard work. 

So hi our proposed building, which is for 
numbers and not for ships' crews, the ar- 
rangements must be fevourable to a good 
development of health both in the adult and 
those new-bom and growing up. The phy- 
sieal acquirements are good air, dry air,warm 
air; good water, hot and cold in abund- 
ance ; spaoe for exerdie in bad weather ; 
convenience for privacy or society at will ; 
arrangements for stowage of provisions, and 
also for cooking them with the minimum of 
labour; artificial light. 

The mental arrangements are, a library 
and reading room, a school-room, an infant 
school. A lecture room also. 

Without these latter arrangements, peace 
win not exist. " Idleness is the root of all 
evil." Misdiief is a word used to signify 
unoccupied energy ; and the active human 
mind, when not occupied in acquiring or 
prodndngt takes to thievhig or destroying. 
Unoccupied village boys rob orchards and 
hunt cats and other animals. Bespectable 
ladies rob shops, being acquisitive like msg- 
pies. Gentlemen hunt foxes, shoot par- 
tridges, "punch heads," wrench off knock- 
ers and bell-handles, and pull down direc- 
tion-posts and sign-boards. They are all 
badly educated and prefer doing mischief 
to doing nothing. ** Idleness is the root of 
all evil." But it is not sufficient to set this 
for a schoolboy's copy, unless we provide 

D 3 



58 



THE MODEL LODGING HOUSES FOR THE WORKING CLASSES. 



alto for the ezerciso of pleasurable indni'- 
try. 

We will suppose a piece of land secured 
on the borders of the South Western Rail- 
way — gravel soil for the workers for onee, 
my lord— till Edwin Chadwick, studies a 
little better how to mansEe the clay— say 
in the neighbourhood of &ttersea, Wands- 
worth, or Wimbledon ; and that Mr. Cliap. 
lin has bound down the Railway and its 
heirs for ever, not to raise the fares on the 
working man, who will be willing to pay a 
fair price for the accommodation alTorded, 
and trust that the Company will go as low 
as they can in consideration of the numbers. 

On this land we will lay out a building 
in the form of a hollow square containing 
a courtyard measuring 400 feet on each side 
externally, and 300 feet on each side inter- 
nally, the buildings being 50 feet in width 
firom front to back. The buildings to be 
eight stories in height, including the ground 
floor— the average height of the floors eight 
feet, some more, some less. Dry cellars to 
be constructed beneath them for the deposit 
of provisions, such as grain, potatoes, and 
other Tegetables. In the centre a tall chim- 
ney shaft to be erected, capable of carrying 
off the smoke of all the boiler fires in the 
establishment. Around this shaft to be 
erected a building of ]25 feet square— a 
ground floor only lighted by skylights — and 
with cellars beneath for coals. This build- 
ing to be divided into compartments, con- 
taining a boiler-house with boilers of pro- 
per capacity to furnish steam for an engine 
of sufficient power to pump up water from 
a well to supply the whole establishment at 
the height of the upper story. The boilers 
also to supply hot water, and steam pipes 
OTor all the building in proper positions, 
and also the wash-houses and baths, which 
will be in the same building as the boilers. 
The space around the courtyard between the 
centre and external buildings will be about 
85 feet wide, laid out with grass plots and 
flowers. If the space in the central build- 
ing be not sufficient for all the baths, a por- 
tion of the cellars may be applied, properly 
fitted up. If the water be hard, anrange- 
nents can be made to preserve the roof 
water in under-ground tanks. 

The floors to be formed of wrought-iron 
girders, with a broad lip below and aboYe. 
The centres of the girders to be supported 
on iron columns having a space of 10 feet 
between them. The ceilings to be formed 
of slabs of sawn slate in 6 feet lengths, 
stretching from one girder to the other. 
The floors to be of similar slabs of thicker 
substance having a hollow space equal to 
the depth of the girder between them. In 
theae hollow spaces the stone pipes may be 



placed, and the whole floors may be 
voirs of warmth beneath the feet, and to 
which the warmth may be admitted or 
excluded at pleasure, beneath each apart- 
ment. To these stone pipes steam ti^ 
should be attached in each apartment, aif- 
fording the means of warming liquids at 
pleasure, making tea or coffee, boiling milk, 
stewing fish, fledi, fowl, or vegetable, pre- 
paring a foot bath or living water at any 
hour of the day or night. Each apartment 
to be divided by slate partitions, but the 
doors to be of wood, and to have a floor . 
area about 16 feet x 20, subdivided into a 
sitting room, 10 feet x 20 feet,— a bedroom 
6 feet X 12 feet, — and a closet with sink, &c., 
and cold-water tap with a gas light. The 
gas and water pipes to be laid in the hol- 
low of the floor, the slating being csqpable 
of removal at any time to get access to tb« 
pipes. The windows hung upon a horizon- 
tal swivel, the upper part towards the ceil- 
ing running inwards, the lower part out- 
wards. No opening to be provided in these 
apartments, as the warmth and chimnej 
ventilation will be sufficient for persona not 
of sedentary habits, and the convenience of 
the steam and gas vdll be sufficient. 

It will be obvious, that a building so con- 
structed cannot be burned down, and will 
be thoroughly dry and warm ; so there will 
be no insurance to pay. It will be obvioasy - 
also, that no vermin can exist therein, and 
that the greatest possible facility of cleans- 
ing exists. The hot steam and water lor- 
nishes instantaneous means of cleansing th« 
floor or walls at any time, and at the same 
time of drying them. 

Six stories would be appropriated to those 
apartments. The buildings being 50 feet 
wide, there would be a central passage 10 
feet wide between the rows of columna, and 
the apartments would front each way. There 
would be about 160 apartments on each 
floor, making, with the six floors, accom- 
modation for 960 ; or taking a portion of 
the lower floors, say 1,000 families, averag- 
ing four persons each, say 4,000 men, 
women and children. That, my Lord, would 
be a number well worth your attention. If 
the purpose be good, the good would be in 
large amount. The cellars below should be 
fitted up for provisions* in the following 
mode :— Cast-iron tanks, similar to gas 
tanks, covered in at top, all but a man hole* 
fitted with an air-tight cover, or air-tight 
brick or stone tanks of a similar kind, being 
provided of fitting size, green vegetables, 
fish or flesh being put into them, and the 
cover fitted and luted with gutta percha, 
or similar material, an air-pump is to be 
applied connected with the steam engine, 
and the air exhausted. Neither decompo- 



THE MODEL LODGING HOUftE$ FOE THE WORKING CLASSES. 



59 



litioii, nor rennin, nor thieves oan affect 
proYisioiit thnt stored, and the only care 
required would be to try. the air-pumps oe- 
casioaall J to make sure against leakage. 

A certain portion o£ the lover story on each 
■de the main gates would be appropriated 
to the officers of the establishment. Aiiother 
portiaa would be a dining-room, a coffee- 
room, a library, a lecture-room, and a read- 
ia|-room — perhaps a music-room also ; 
1,600 feet X 50 would afford ample space. 
All these rooms would be furnished with 
fire-places as well as warm air, and the flues 
would be let into the main chimney shaft. 

The kitchens would be on the upper 
story. The whole north side 400 ft. x 30 ft 
would be applied to this purpose, and small 
steam-engines supplied by the pipes from 
below would perform all the drudgery, and 
deaasing of plates and utensils, chopping 
wood, &c. Open fires, steam-boilers, gas-me- 
ters, would do all that was requisite. Hoist- 
ing and lowering tackle worked by the steam 
ttgines, would supply the kitchen with un- 
cooked articles, ami transport them cooked 
to tiieir destination. Air-tight receptacles 
worked by the same engines might also be 
plaeed in the kitchen. In this mode the 
building would be free from all unpleasant 
•eents. A portion of the space next the 
kitchen m%ht be used for an upstairs dining- 
room for women and children. 

The southern side of this upper story 
would be a ichool-room. The western side 
an in&Dt school-room, and a portion of it 
might be a greenhouse with skylights. The 
eastern side might be applied to bed-rooms 
or other purposes. Of course all debris 
and useless water would be carried down 
proper shoots. 

13ie staircases would be of slate, fire- 
proof like the rest of the building, and easily 
cleansed. There would also be four engine 
Bfta, one at each angle constantly raising 
sod lowering. 

It would be desirable to furnish the 
Mlding with every thing requisite in the 
shape of bedsteads, tables, chairs, &c., so as 
to pcerent all transport of lumber in and out. 

Attached to the engine house there might 
be some horizontal sluifts provided with cir- 
cular brushes, to do aU the shoe-cleaning of 
fbe establishment. 

The gas woi|ld be manufactured on the 
establishment, and the coke would serve to 
fsed the engine and other fires. The time 
will come when the nuisance of gas work 
chimneys will be abolished in cities by the 
gas being made in the coal pits beneath the 
earth, and conveyed in pipes along the rail- 
wm. 

With regard to the smoke from coal, tiiat 
viU contanoe tiU some shrewd manufiwtwer 



gets the proper chemical analysis of cannel 
or other coal that burns with perfect com- 
bustion, and, mixing the varieties of other 
coal artificially, produces the same result* 
To use crude coal for our fires is as ignorant 
as it would be to use crude potatoes for our 
stomachs. 

And. now, my Lord, with regard to figures 
—to the question "Will it pay?" For 
unless it will pay, it will be of no possible 
use. It can prove nothing practical of a 
new kind, because every single proposition 
herein htm been in actual praotioe in other 
forms, thdugh as yet uncombined to produce 
this result. Will it pay, my Lord .>* I think 
it will. Twenty horse engine power and all. 

Take the apartments all round at 150/ 
each, say 1000 In number, that will be 
150,000/. 

Interest, at 7i per cent, per 

annum 11,250/. 

These apartments, with fur- 
niture, fire, warm air, 
gas, water, &c., would 
be cheap at 7s. per 
week, or 18/. per an- 
num. Annual revenue 18,000/. 

Expenses and profit 6,750/. 

Nothing taken for use of baths. 

If you work not for profit, but for invest- 
ment, then the profit will pay Mr. Chaplfai's 
constituents for the use of their railway. 

Now, my Lord, will you go mto the cal- 
culation in cross exambiation, or procure 
Mr. Chadwick to do it, giving him as a 
consideration a earU bhnekB as to the drains 
of tiie establishment and the disposal of the 
debris ? 

That done, my Lord, will yon go into the 
calculation of the physical and mental 
results to the indwellers ? I must dwell a 
short time longer on them. Meanwhile, 
will yon hint to Lord John Russell to forego 
the window-tax in sneh buildings as these ? 

It is very important that this question should 
be carefully examined ; for the working peo- 
ple, thoroughly alive to the evils of tiieir 
^yiaring reut-charges, are in complete igno- 
nudce as how best to remedy, them. Tliere 
never was any more mischievous ftdlscy for 
their interest than the Building Societies, as 
appUed to workmen indiscriminately. By 
dint of weekly payments a man beeomes in 
time the owner of a costly, badly constructed 
house— costly as compared with its value ; 
and he is compelled to reside in one spot, 
whether his work may happen to be near or 
distant, and he is altogether precluded frt>m 
removing to any other locality, unlev he 
can sell or kt his house» which would oom«* 



60 



YHE urOBKL LODOINO H0USS8 FOR THE WORKING CLASSES. 



monly be at: a disatWanta^. There can be 
no surer method of making working men 
dependent than by making themselves the 
owners of small fixed properties, whether in 
a house or a patch of land. Thus they pre- 
clude themselres from taking advantage of 
favourable changes in new localities. Of 
course, particular workmen, identified with 
particular establithments, are less subject t3 
these considerations. They can calculate 
chances equally with their employers. 

The advantages that would accrue to a 
body of workpeople, Uviog in such a domi- 
cile as I have described, can scarcely be over- 
rated. Supposing them well-paid workmen 
with abundant means for decent clothing 
and healthy food, after paying their rent, 
they would really be better off than many of 
those that are called the middle classes. 
It is difficult to define what is meant by 
middle class, unless we include all those who 
work with their heads and not with their 
hands, and the upper class as those who do 
no work at all. Many of these middle 
classes live in miserable houses, badly 
warmed, drained, lighted, and ventilated, 
and work hard themselves at domestic econo- 
mising, or keep a " Marchioness" as a kind 
of white slave. But in our proposed dwell- 
ing a nobleman might live on an emergency 
without having his tastes offended, and cer- 
tainly with more comfort than in many of 
our officers' barracks. There would be 
privacy or society at pleasure, as they might 
be solitarily or gregariously disposed. There 
would be warmth, and every means of ob- 
taining well-cooked food. Baths at pleasure, 
warm or cold. A coffee-room with news- 
papers ; a library with books ; covered 
galleries to walk in in bad weather, and 
access at all hours by day or night There 
would be absolutely no drudgery whatever 
for the women, no wet clothes to be drying 
at their husband's return, no water to carry 
up stairs, and no quarrelling at a common 
pump to obtain it, no descent with ashes or 
slops, no anxiety about their children when 
going out. If it be objected that quarrels 
would ensue by means of the large number 
of lodgers, the answer is simple. Consider 
the galleries as streets. Let any one imagine 
the ease of mind it must be to a father and 
mother to have an infant-school and chil- 
dren's school under the same roof, and at 
an expense almost nominal, and a library of 
books for their growing-up boys and girls, 
together with the influence of general good 
habits all around them. 

Beyond this, so huge a body would have 
it in their power to command the services of 
the most efficient lecturers in every branch 
of art or science they might choose. Teachers 
for the schools, cooks for the kitchen, en- 



gineers for the water, baths, gas, warming, 
Sec, and gardeners for the greenhouse, 
washerwomen, librarians, writers — ^and all 
would probably be found amongst the in- 
mates, each one finding out his or her 
several aptitudes. Concerts would infal- 
libly spring up, and dances follow. There 
seems no reason why religious teachers also 
should not attend. 

There is another point of essential im- 
portance also. The establishment could 
maintain its own physician. The importance ^ 
of this can scarcely be overrated. The whole 
time of a skilful man could be given to a 
body of people whose constitutions he would 
study as a gardener does his plants, and to 
whom he conld continually suggest improve- 
ments in habits and customs. A far better 
salary could be paid to a man of high at- 
tainments by a regular body than is paid by 
those who get up lectures on speculation. 
They would probably be best paid on the 
sound principle developed by the Tartar 
dynasty of China, payment lessening as dis- 
ease increases. And such an arrangement 
would in other ways be economic to the 
public. Hospitals and asylums would be 
less in demand in proportion as such estab- 
lishments, increased. In case of illness in 
individuals, abundant nursing help would be 
found without expense, in distress.llt Is 
the existing inefficiency of the present mode 
of housing that imperatively demands hospi- 
tals, and asylums, and lying-in establiBh- 
ments. 

If the economical advantages be such at 
are pointed out, and it will be difficult to 
show any fallacy, the probability is that such 
buildings would increase. The middle classes 
would certainly unitate them, and so would 
many of the upper classes, who in their 
clubs show rather what they desire than 
what they attain. With such modes of 
living, universal education would come 
about almost naturally, and with little need 
of government exertion. 

To this mode of living the middle classes 
will be forced by a change now gradually 
taking place in the circumstances of society. 
I allude to domestic service. Every one 
exclaims " how bad the servants are becom- 
ing I" This is not the fact. The servants, 
as human b^gs, are really rising in the 
scale of creation, and find drudgery irksome, 
having an instinctive perception that drud- 
gery is not really essential. Domestic ser- 
vice is irksome even with kind employers. 
Grown people do not like to have to ask 
leave to go out, having hired out their 
whole time, night and day. They also have 
their desire for domestic and family conver- 
sation, and by our present arrangements tbii 
cannot be managed. A famUy does not 



BARON VON RATHEn's COMPRESSED-AIR LOCOMOTIVE, 



61 



employ another ^hole family. But were 
many familiea conjoined under one roof, they 
might employ other families. Domestic 
senrants will grow less and less disposed to 
enter the house of the stranger, and abandon 
brother and siaterhood, as time runs on, and 
the abode of the workman becomes the home 
of comfort ; and this will nniversally nrge on 
medianical and chemical improvement in 
every branch of domestie life, so that it will 
only be eawntia] to have a servant for two 
or three boors per day, instead of being 
utterly dependent on you. Already they 
begin to insist on ''sky-blue coats and 
scarlet breeches being considered in their 
wagea.'' The philosophy of the matter is, 
that an human beings have their tendencies 
and aptitudes to serve one another in difier- 
eat modea, but the service can only be 
eheerfnlly performed when it is not mixed 
up with a quantity of distasteful drudgery. 

Who aludl try first this great experiment, 
my Lord ? Shall it be yourself, a heredi- 
tavy ariatocrat, or an iron king of Wales, 
where alate and iron exist together? or a 
cotton lord of Manchester ? or some separate 
cBgardiy of the Great Railway Confedera- 
tioo ? or than it be some squatting Jonathan 
fmnt the *' far west,'* taking note of the 
" lahonr privileges ** of Ireland on his jour- 
ney firam Galway to Dublin, now the new 
*' highway to America," and thinking how 
itwffl do to bring his own cotton to his own 
mill on the sotxrces of the Shannon, and 
there work it up by the '* Almighty splen- 
did fingers of that crowdy raising of Celtic 
girla?'' Rouse yourself, my Lord. Do 
not rnflfer that ambitious *' model republic " 
to «> ahead In everythhig. Keep your pride 
of pkaoe. Lord Teignmouth teaches in the 
Ragged Schools. Set yon up your school 
amid the well*clad working classes— to be 
better housed and taught by the result of 
your skill and enezgy. 

I am, my Lord, 
With much inclination to respect you, 

CodMOfl. 



BARON VON RATHBN's C0MPBBS8BD-AUI 
LOCOMOTIYB. 

Sir, — ^Toa were, some time since, good 
enough to admit some observations of 
mine on compressed-air locomotion, and 
in particular upon Baron von Rathen's 
system, of which you made some further 
mention in your Number for June 12, 
1847. It may, therefore, interest your 
readters to know that the experimental 
eorapressed - air earriage for common 
roads there referred to b now completed, 
and iHtuit many of the points upon which 



I ventured to form an opinion have been 
determined by experiment. The reser- 
voir of this, carriage has a capacity of 
75 cubic feet, and I have seen it charged 
with air of 50 and 60 atmospheric pres- 
sures by a six- horse power engine with- 
out any straining or manifestation of 
heat, and it has remained charged up to 
25 or 30 atmospheres for two or three 
days without any perceptible leakage. 
I have seen the air thus compressed to 
30 and 40 atmospheres admitted by 
means of the moderator at a constant 
pressure into the cylinders, and there 
worked expansively. When used at two 
atmospheres, i. «., with an effeciive force 
of 15lbs. on the square inch, it caused 
the wheels (the carriage being propped 
up) to make 60 revolutions in a minute ; 
when used at three atmospheres the 
wheels made 120 revolutions. The re- 
frigeration of the air when expanding 
from the reservoir into the moderator 
was also materially lessened by the means 
before mentioned, although the carriage 
was stationary. 

Indeed, these facts may now be con- 
sidered as proved, viz. : That air may be 
compressed to almost any extent, without 
deleterious heating or straining of ma- 
chinery. That it may be retained in such 
a state of compression without danger 
from rupture or leakage for a consider- 
able time, and that it may then be used 
at a consUnt pressure (which may be 
varied at will) without,loss from refrige- 
ration. 

Other problems necessary to be re- 
solved, and the details of experiments, 
eannot, of course, be entered upon until 
the carriage has made some successful 
attempts at self-motion,, which it is ex- 
pectea to do very shortly. I shall then, 
perhaps, with your permission, trouble 
you with some further remarks. The 

§ resent carriage is not, I believe, consi- 
ered by any means a specimen of a 
common-road locomotive, but merely as 
practically illustrative of the feasibility 
of compressed-air locomotion. I am 
told, indeed, that it is not the Baron von 
Rathen*s intention ultimately to drive, by 
reciprocating cylinder engines at aU, but 
by a rotary engine of his own invention j 
which I find is also, as well as the car- 
riage at present being constructed at the 
College for Civil Engineers, Putney. 
I am, Sir, yours, &c., 
ar. 



62 



DESCRIPTION OF THE STSTBlf OF VENTILATION AND WARMING ADOPTED AT THE MODEL 

PRISON, PENTONVILLE. 

(Concladed ttom p. SO.) 



WamUf^, 
The system of warming adopted at Pen- 
tonyille is that of the circulation of water 
in iron pipes, with which the pnbUc are 
already ftuniliar. In a former Report the 
Sorveyor-General explained the details of a 

Kg. 



regalator so contriTed as to allow a prisoner 
to admit warm air from the main, flue or 
cold air from die corridor, and recommended 
its general adoption in all new prisons. 
" By maintaining a degree of heat in th« 
main flues, calculated to produce the maxi«>- 

8. 




U- 



tV{ i 



CI 



CI 



i^ 



mum effect required, a prisoner would then 
have the power of keeping his cell at any 
temperature between that limit and the tem- 
perature of the corridor, which can be so 
regulated as to produce a minimum effect. 
About 5^ or 6o will be found a sufficient 



m 



range to embrace all the special cases which 
have been referred to ; and it is only in such 
cases that any alteration in the original ad- 
justment will be found necessary, during 
the day." On this subject the present Report 
contains the following additional remarks : 



THE MODEL PRISON SYSTEM OF VENTILATION AND WARMING. 



63 



There appears reason to doubt whether an 
eqnallj high temperature during the night 
is either essential or advantageous. This, 
howerer, is purely a medical question ; but 

Fig. 



there is no difficulty in providing the means 
of lowering the temperature generally, and 
in a Tery short space of time, should it be 
considered conduciye to health. 








S^.. 




One mode of effecting it would be by 
freely introducing cold fresh air into the 
corridors, and ** shutting off** the warm air 
from thti mdn floes by the regulator, which 



should be in such case fixed by the officers 
at locking-up time, so as not to be at the 
control of a prisoner. 
The same object might be effected by 



C4 



THE GREfHAM PROFESSORSHIPS. 



admitting cold fresh air in several places into 
the main flues, at the same time drawing off 
the hot water from the pipes, and filling 
them with cold water. 

The former plan would be the most eco- 
nomical in fuel, as the heat would accumu- 
kte during the night in the main flues, ready 
to be applied in the morning. The only 
inconrenienoe would be, that the officers on 
duty might feel it cold. 

If the temperature be lowered by the 
second plan of admitting fresh air into the 
main flues, any loss of heat during the night 
would require to be made up by an increased 
quantity of fuel in the mommg. 

On these grounds, and also that the former 
plan would act more immediately and more 
certainly, I am disposed to recommend that 
regulators be brought into general use. 

Openings into the main flues will still, 
however, be of advantage in lessening the 
friction, and thus increasing the facility of 
ventilating during the summer, 

I explained in my former Report that, as a 



means of admitting air into a cell directly 
from the exterior, a square of the window 
might be glazed, so as to leave an opening 
without affording facilities for communication, 
between adjoining cells. For prisons already 
built this will be a convenient method ; but 
in new prisons it would be preferable to 
construct a small flue in the external wall,* 
as shown in fig. 8. (see ante, p. 62.) 

Additional means for ventilating a cell 
during the summer months may be obtained 
by fixing a second grating in the Ibnl-air 
flue near to the ceilfaig. A wooden frame 
and slide should be fix^ over this grating, 
so that it may be used or not, according to 
circumstances. (See fig. 8.) 

Fig. 1 (omitted in our last) is a sectional 
elevation of the building. A is the chamber 
for the warming apparatus; A', cold-air 
flue ; B, the corridor; CS the cells; F F, 
foul-air flues ; M F, main foul-air flue ; S, 
smoke flue ; F S, foul-air shaft ; T F, shows 
where to the left hand is placed a fire-place 
for summer ventilation. 



TBB ORXSHAM PR0FI880R8HXP8. 
Second Notice. 



Amongst the endowments for the pur- 
poses of education, how very few can 
be quoted where the original intentions 
of the founder have not been perverted! 
It would, however, be difllcult to find a 
parallel to Greabam College. 

Sir Thomas Gresham had received a 
Uberal education. Unlike the great 
mass of our modem " merchants, be 
had gone through the curriculum of the 
University of Cambridge. This, too, 
was in an age when young men repaired 
to the University witii a desire to learn, 
instead of (as is too often the case now) 
to " while away" in frivolity and dissi- 
pation, the years of life for which, ac- 
cording to modern usage, no employment 
can be found. He had acquired a real 
knowledge of the learning of his time ; 
and feeling the impNortance of that learn- 
ing, he with princely magnificence 
made provision for its coming within 
the reach of the London dtiien. Men 
highly distinguished in literature and 
science were amongst its earlier profes- 
sors ; and the college became, in fact, the 
great focus of all metropolitan learning. 

Subsequently, however, to the close 
of the sixteenth century, it has for all 
scientific and literarv purposes vanished 
from the face of the earth I Were 
another Ward to write a History of the 
College and the Lives of its Professors, 
how many pages could be added to that 



which the first Ward wrote more than 
a century ago? He may, indeed, by 
consulting l£e dusty archives of the 
Mercers' C!ompany he able possibly to fill 
half a page or so with entries respecting 
appointments to the several Professor- 
ships-; and probably too, he might be 
able to find some autograph signatures 
of those fortunate personages, on the 
receipt of their salaries. But how many, 
on the other hand, could we find in that 
list, whose names are inscribed on Eng- 
land's roll of learned men? View^, 
therefore^ even as a sinecure appendage 
to the income of the laborious man of 
intellect, this trust has been grossly 
abused; but. how much more abused in 
its havinfi" been left unproductive of the 
exalting lieneflts which its founder in- 
tended to confer on his fellow citizens 1 

The attempt to complv lUerally with 
the instructions contained m the founder's 
will was probably one of the causes of 
the decline of this College. Our Uni- 
versities, though slow enough to be 
moved by the influence of circumstances, 
have been compeUed so fax to forego the 
literal adherence to the mere terms of 
their charters, as the increasing intelli- 
gence and increasing requirements of the 
country rendered necessary. The Gre- 
sham alone has stood still— or rather, has 

* Flaet of thit deeeripUon have been made in the 
military prisons bnOt within the last Urw jwn. 



THE aRBSHAM PR07ESS0B8HIPS. 



65 



retrograded : for whilst it has adopted 
none of the improvements which have 
lesnlted from subsequent experience in 
tuition, it does not even fulfil to the let- 
ter the prescribed rules laid down for 
its government. If, therefore, its trus- 
tees fidl back upon the literal construc- 
tion of the will, let them be judged even 
bj that, and they will be found wanting. 
^eir authoritj, therefore, lapses to the 
Crown which gave the charter; and it 
letts with the Crown to modify it so as to 
bee<mie consonant to the wants of the 
times. They cannot escape from this 
dilemma : but, except it were taken up 
by the Government itself, it would in- 
volve a chancery suit, which, might, end 
m the absorption of the entire property 
by the lawyers. This, however, would 
be cutdng off Gresham's head to cure 
Gresham's head-ache. 

A parliamentary commission, or a 
loyil commission, or any system of in- 

J[uiry into the management of this Col- 
ege is impossible, whilst the Premier 
represents the Corporation of London 
in the House of Commons. If even 
the Sanatary Commission cannot pene- 
trate within the city boundaries, when 
the health of our Great Babylon is 
at stake, it would be preposterous to 
hope that so unimportant a thing as a 
Knowledge Commission should dare to 
invade that sacred territory. Were any 
nnlocky Commissioners so rash, they 
would (in a metaphorical sense at least,) 
be captured by the Lord Mayor's officers, 
put into the pillory and pelted by the 
" London Prentices," ana finally depo- 
sited in the strong-house in St. George's 
l^lds, which stands as the modernised 
representative of the antique Bedlam. 

We speak of the present: but '*the 
flood days are coming." Corporate in- 
fluence will not prevail even to save the 
dty of London from a searching inves- 
tigation into the dispensation of iu trusts, 
and a sweeping reform of its thousand 
aboaes. Nor is the time so remote as 
thecitv-conservatives may imagine, even 
thdngh the meanest devices in which the 
most doubtful traders are such adepts, 
ahoald be (as we fear they will be) adopt- 
ed for the defence of their time- dis- 
honoured system. Whatever may be 
the opinion of the citizen, it is the opi- ' 
nion of the honest EngHshman, that, 
a irusi is not a mere perquisite. If, 
however, the Gresham trustees are not 



so intoxicated with their *' perquisites,'' 
as to fondly imagine them perpetual, we 
trust they' will make some attempt to 
ward off public denunciation by reforms 
emanating from amongst themselves. 
Where would our two ancient Univer- 
sities have been now, had their "caputs" 
indulged in the same fancied immunity 
from public opinion ? We anticipate the 
answer. " That the Universities and tlie 
Gresham Trustees have alike consulted 
their interests in the different steps they 
have taken : it being the interest of the 
Universities to get as many men as pos- 
sible on the > boards,' since education 
is the trade of those places; and it 
being the interest of the Gresham Trus- 
tees to keep possession of the funds of 
the endowment in aid of that great prin- 
ciple of London corporation, conviviality, 
and influence.'* 

Whatever truth there may be in the 
former part of this opinion, the latter 
part is certainly an error. It is an opinion 
founded on very short-sighted policy, 
even viewed as interested policy; but 
merchants are more conversant with the 
values of stocks and mercantile wares, 
than they are with wtan as a social and 
intellectual creature. Had anv one 
of Gresham's trustees been gifted with 
Gresham's prescience, he would have 
foreseen the infinite advantage of keeping 
up and extending the influence and use- 
fulness of this College, even as regards 
its pecuniary results. This College 
might have been the focus, the great 
leading exemplar of a London University 
— far more efficient than the '< concern * 
which now bears that name, can ever by 
any possibility become. 

But its chance is not even yet wholly 
past. It may regain the position it has 
well-nigh thrown away ; and may, with 
prudence and foresight, still take the 
metropolitan position that would have 
delighted the merchant prince, and have 
secured the approbation of even his jea- 
lous queen. The Gresham College may 
yet, if its trustees only exercise the nru- 
dence in their official positions wnich 
they do in their own counting houses, 
become the powerful leader of metropo- 
litan intellect and learning, and in an 
eminent degree the representative of Eng- 
land in all that relates to the development 
of science and literature. It majr become 
the real nucleus of English mind — the 
kernel of English knowledge. 



66 

"But Aoirf " exclaims the corpora- 
tionist, as he reads our pages over his 
choice glass of wine after his six o'clock 
dinner. Well, read on, and you shall 
know, good conservative friend I 

The recent efforts to establish colleges 
in London have arisen from a strong 
feeling of their necessity ; and they have 
arisen amongst men, too, of your own 
class, who happened to be a few degrees 
farther on the road towards enlighten- 
ment than yourselves. They knew thai 
it was useless in the first place to seek 
your CO' operation ; they knew also that 
it was useless to plead with your and 
their own class, if pecuniary advantages 
were left out of the question ; and they 
knew, slill further, that without the aid 
of some talkative members of Parliament 
who could be identified with their move- 
ments, it would be impossible for th^ir 
colleges to gain any standing in public 
estimation. They took their measures 
accordingly, like shrewd men of the 
world — organized a body, put a heap of 
hewn stone in Gower-street, and called 
it the "London University." Still rou 
nu)ved not, beyond putting together a 
corresponding heap of stones m Cole- 
man -street, after the destruction of 
your Royal Exchange. The Clmrch, how- 
ever, took the alarm ; and she built up 
another heap (not of stones, but of bricks 
with stone faces) as an eastern buttress 
to Somerset House, and called the thing 
" King's College, London." 

This did not~--does not alarm you. 
Nevertheless, you might even now reform 
your abuses, and by a proper employ- 
ment of your powers and your funds, 
render Gresham College more dignified 
and more useful, too, than either of these 
new colleges, combined with all the joint- 
stock schools which are connected with 
them under the name of London Univer- 
sity. You have antiquity, pristi^e^ and 
ample funds in your favour ; all of which 
are essential elements in an Englishman's 
notions of social and corporate greatness. 
If you could only bring yourselves to act 
in a large and liberal spirit, all the others 
would be glad to shelter themselves under 
your wing, and Gresham College would 
again become what Gresham College has 
been — the centre of the intellect of the 
metropolis. It will, soon, however, be 
too late to regain your position; and 
then, only think how the reforming 
spirit of the age may deal with your 
" precious perquisites ] " 



THE GRBSHAM PBOFESSORSHIPS. 



But science and literature you consider 
to be "no business of yours ; " whilst we 
consider that the custody of the College 
renders it your business both in law and 
in honour. If science be not your busi- 
ness, why do you accept its trust and 
appropriate its funds ? We admit that 
you know little of its value, except in 
connection with the money you divert, 
from its cultivation and diflPusion ; but if 
learning be really only useless trifling In 
your honest belief, why do you not legal* 
ize your system of spoliation by an act 
of Parliament to protect you? Let the 
Corporation of London (if it dares to 
avow its principle of action) at onpe pro* 
claim, by an application to Parliament 
through its representative- premier, that 
money left for tne cultivation of letters is 
more patriotically expended when sp^nt 
upon ripe venison and green turtle. The 
affirmative of the question would, no 
doubt, obtain a greater number .of suf- 
frages in the House than Mr. Hume's 
proposition for electoral reform was so 
fortunate as to obtain ! Do not, at any 
rate, hold up your toy-building in Gres- 
ham-street, and its " wall-lectures," as a 
fulfilment of your trust; for you only 
add insult to insincerity, in pretending to 
think the public can feel otnerwise than 
disgusted with such an argument. 

But we must proceed to consider tbe 
particulars involved in a reform of the 
management of Gresham College. 

The manner of teaching by lecture 
was the universal practice, as regarded 
everything beyond mere rudimental 
learning, during the middle ages, and 
down to a much later period than that of 
Sir Thomas Gresham. The professorial 
system haa, however, been so greatly 
modified in our own universities and 
public institutions, that it can hardly be 
said now to form any marked feature 
in our educational system. In earlier 
times none attended a imiversity who did 
not go there to study — to learn — and to 
learn in the best way they could. Books 
were scarce and costly in Gresham's 
time ; and few even of those were writ- 
ten by men who were fully roasters of 
their respective subjects. No means 
then existed but oral preelections for the 
• general communication of knowledge; 
and to eflTect this was the business and 
the duty of the professor. As good 
books on the several sciences (esnecially 
their elements) began to appear, tne pro- 
fessional system began to decline : for 



THE GRESHAH PROFESSORSHIPS. 



young men found it was easier to gain 
their knowledge from their books deli* 
berately, than to trust to their aeizmg 
the reasonings of the professor in all their 
force. Hence the professor was obliged 
to sink himself partly into the tutor. 
In both our aniyersities, too, the main 
business of the college tutor is to stand 
M locv parentis to the under-graduate — 
to expound in a general and sketchy way 
the subjects which it is requisite for his 
pupils to read—and to examine them at 
staled times (onoe a term) as to the pro- 
ficiency they naye made. He gives, how- 
ever no explanation of the difficulties 
which the student may encounter ; but 
merely tells htm what books to read, 
and leares him to comprehend them as 
he can. Left thus to himself, the under- 
graduate has been compelled to seek as- 
sistance from others piore advanced than 
himself in understanding his books ; and 
this has given rise to a large and most 
useful body of men resident in both uni- 
versities, tmown by the name of private 
tutors. , It is by txiem in reality that the 
educational business of the universities 
u carried on ; and without their aid, the 
numbers on the boards would be annually 
decimated, till at last the college halls 
would form is desolate an exhibition as 
the Gresbam lecture-room. The e»- 
dotped professorships^ however, are still 
kept UD in both universities, although 
with wnat of public benefit no one has 
ever been able to tell us. Attendance 
oo them is not compulsory ; except, in^ 
deed, that the bishops have now adopted 
as a <« compulsory '* rule the production 
of a certincate nrom the Professors of 
Divinity in both, that the candidate for 
holy orders has attended his lectures 
during one term "voluntarily." [Clothing 
18 to be gained by attending them ; and 
hence generally they are unattended. 
Occasionally, indeed, when the chairs 
are filled by able men (which is not 
always the case, even )n the universities) 
nep whose educational course is finished, 
smd who have taken tdeir degrees, may 
be found to attend the jprofessorial lec- 
tures. This, we conceive, constitutes 
ihelr great recommendation ; as it afibrds 
to the professor a most important oppor- 
tunity fbr generalising and systematising 
the crude mass of knowledge which the 
under-graduate had heaped together in 
order to take his B.A. degree — for ** a 
cmde mass '' must the knowledge of 
erery maD, reading his subject for tho 



67 



first time, always be. The professor who 
makes it his business to methodize these 
masses into consistent forms — to point 
out the relations and bearings of the 
different parts of this mass — ^to dwell 
upon the history of discoveries in the 
science, especially pointing out what yet 
remains to be done in it— to explain the 
subtle philosophy which runs through and 
cements together all its parts — to show 
the applications that have been made of 
science to the comfort and happiness of 
civilised man, viewed both mentally and 
materially: — such a professor would be 
the benefactor of his age ; for this is the 
class of instruction at once the most diffi- 
cult and the most rare, though unhappily 
it appears to be in our day the least 
valued class of all. 

It is upon this ground, tl^en, that we 
would earnestly implore the Gresbam 
College to take its stand. No other in- 
stitution in London has the means to do 
so, but the Gresbam ; and the trustees 
consenting to make this cosmopolitan 
use of their powers, they would perform 
a part so graceful and so patriotic as to 
earn for themselves the gratitude of the 
literary and scientific world. How many 
hundreds of young professional men 
tl^ere are in the metropolis at the present 
moment, who would hail with delight such 
an appropriation of the Gresbam funds 1 

Our view thep is, that the Gresbam 
lectures should be professorial lectures 
still — not tutorial lectures. So far, then, 
we advocate nothing beyond a selection 
of proper men, who would rather look to 
the public benefits they could render and 
to the reputation attached to their office, 
than to the mere emoluments that might 
accrue from their appointments. 

The time, too, of delivering these 
lectures is so absurdly chosen in relation 
to our social habits, as to render them 
utterly useless to almost every man who 
is likely to be interested in them. On 
the first institution of the college, the 
Latid lectures were delivered at nine and 
two, and the English at ten and three ; 
but now the tnoming lectures are three 
hours later, and the evening five: the 
very hours whet), as regards the morn- 
ing, in our days, the merchant roust be 
upon 'change, and the professional man 
in his duties, and the most advanced 
student in. his sahool ; and just having 
dinner in the evening. All society- 
meetings are held in the evening in our 
time ; as that is, generally speaking, the 



68 



THE 6RESHAM PB^FESSORSHTPS. 



onlj time that an Englishman, and a 
Londoner especially, can fairly have at 
his disposal. Those society-meetings, 
too, are well attended by those who take in- 
terest in them, in all cases where the pro- 
ceedings have not sunk (as in some of the 
older routine-ones) into a mere formaliljr, 
like the Gresbam lectures. Abolish, 
then, the morning lecture, and give in- 
creased encouragement to the evening one. 

The custom of delivering the lecture 
first in Latin, and immediately after in 
English, will surely be admitted by the 
trustees themselves to be a piece of gra- 
tuitous absurdity, and calculated only to 
throw an air of ridicule oyer the stately 
process. If, in accordance with the 
terms of the founder's bequest, the lec- 
ture must be read in Latin, it must be 
remembered that Latin was in his time 
the universal language of the learned 
world ; and this having almost as univer- 
sally ceased to be the case, it would be 
perfectly consonant with the intentions 
of the founder, if the mere title of the 
lecture were given in Latin. 

It is the common understanding in all 
the societies (the Royal, for instance, 
which is so nearly akin to the Gresham 
in its original, and in some important 
parts of their subsequent histories) to call 
a paper ** read'* when its title has been 
read to the meeting. The public would 
not complain of the change ; and were 
some captious objections even made to it, 
could not her Majesty in Council so far 
modify the charier of the college as 
to legalise the change ? Possibly, 
however, some of the sapient trustees* 



* In order that the qiembers of the Gresham 
Committee might not plead ignorance of our atric- 
turas, -we applied to the Mercera' Company for a 
list, in order to send them copies, bui U was rtfuud. 
We have, nevertheleas, procured one, which 'we 
belieTe to be correct, and hare given their respective 
trades, Ace, as they have chosen to designate them- 
selves in the "Directory." A walk past their 
reaidencei will show with what propriety (accord- 
ing to its Engliih tettM, at least) the term '< mer- 
chant" is in some cases applied: 

Rt. Hon. the Lord Mayor (Alderman Hooper.) 

Sir Peter Lanrie, Knt., Parlc-square, Regent's- 
park. 

Sir Qeoi:ge Carroll, Knt., 34, Cavendish-square. 

COMHOKaRB. 

Iff. J. T. Morris, 188, Aldersgate-stieet, Stationer 
and Printer. 

Mr. James Lake, S3, Aldgate, Woollen Draper. 

Mr. William Lister, 78, Basinghall-street, Factor. 

Mr. B. Bower, 106, Lower Thames-street, Orange 
Merchant 

Mr. W. A. Peacock, 161. BUhopsgate-street With- 
out* Bakar. 

Mr. W. Stephens, 78, Blahopsgate-stieet Within, 
Brandy Merchant. 



may have . heretofore imagined that 
imperfect information delivered in bar- 
bareus Latin, 'Ms more learned" than 
sounder information delivered in our 
own vernacular tongue. It would be bat 
in keeping with what they think now, 
when they wonder over a common-place 
fragment of some Roman author, which 
is now and then slipped into a leader in 
the Times, to give a zest to the imagi- 
nation of the un-latinized reader, or to 
complete with the first words that present 
theinselves to the writer's mind, a phrase 
that he had not time " to round cm into 
good English.*' Let, however, thb ab- 
surdity hd eliminated from the Gresham 
lectures. 

We have already said that we would 
have these lectures supplementary to 
every university, hospital or college 
course of academic and professional 
studies. This would interfere with the 
objects and interests of no other insti- 
.tution: but it would be useful to the 
members, the professors, lecturers, and 
teachers in all of them. An improved 
and consistent mode of general scientific 
teaching might be educed from the pro- 
fessors of the Gresham ; and we are 
convinced, as we said last week, that this 
College would " gain an English, and 
ultimately a European, reputation,** if 
only it were managed in conformity with 
the '< living spirit" rather than the ''dead 
letter'* of the Founder's bequest. Will no 
motive other than gold, and what gold can 
purchase, inspire the enthusiasm of the 
masses of "London clay*' that regulate 
the city destinies f We hope that they 
are capable of a higher and purer ambi- 
tion than the world gives them credit 
for : and we would at least hope — we 
would eladly say, could we do so, believe 
— ^that having an opportunity so favour- 
able for refuting popular opinion, they 
will give an unquestionable proof that 
they possess higher qualities than those 
of the miser and the swine ! 

We shall continue to watch the pro- 
gress of this '* election ;** and we beliere 
that we possess the means of watching it 
efiectually. We shall be most glad if we 

Mr. T. Dakin, 78, King William-street, City, Che- 
mist and Druggist. 

Mr. James Hoppe, 5, Bennett's Hill (boainess not 
given.) 

Mr. R. L. Jones, 40, Little Moorflelds (boslneea 
not giren.) 

These are the men who are privileged to deeide - 
upon the JUneu cf a Prof$$nr of Qeowtetrp in 
Greiham College ! Is any comment neceiaaxy f 



THE YORK EXHIBITION Ot AORtCOtTURAL 1MPLEMEMT8. 



69 



em report fitvonrably of the exercise of 
the "elective franchise;*' and shall 
gladly withdraw oar censures for the 
pttt, if the trustees only show some sense 
of deeeney in their choice of the new 
professor. We care not who he is, so 
that he be the best man that can be 
jbund to come forward — a man in whom 
the scientific world can place implicit 
eoniideooe ; and, at the same time, a 
maa who will pledge himself to carry 
ont in their true spirit the noble designs 
of the merchant prince of England. 
Such m man may shame his colleagues 
into a sense of their duties, or teach them 
the grand virtue of resiqnatiok. Let 
all the professors hb made to feel them- 
lelTes as before Iks worlds and they will 
either do tneir d^tir and sain honours 
for themselves, or tney will give way to 
others more ardent, more learned, and 
more high-minded than themselves. 

Above all things, let perpetuity, and 
its consequent negligence of duty, be 
stopped at onod and for ever in respect 
of thne appointments. Let each Gresham 
professorship be looked to as a golden 
opportunity which occurs but once in a 
life, for the most gifted of men to leave a 
permanent mark of his existence and of 
nis power of influencing for good, the 
onward course of the intellecttud human 
race 1 Let him be taught to concentrate 
his whole force upon a high and ho- 
nourable effi>rt for Immortal honour from 
his species ; and that such an opportunity 
if ooee thrown away, can never come tp 
him again I Then, and only then, will 
the Gresham become worthy of Gresham 
and of London I 



give him any information on the subject he 
may require. Yours respectfully, J. B. 
ManchMteTi July 5, 1848. 



BLBOTEICAL irACHINBS. 

Sir,— In answer to an iaqairy in jour 
lisC M.g««iiii> of " M. G. W. Laarence," 
concer n ing the best method of making the 
cushions for the new plate electrical ma- 
chine of my invention, mentioned in yonr 
last vol., p. 515 ; I beg to lay, the materials I 
Qied were these : I procured some good horse 
hair and had it well dried, I then enclosed it 
n a easing of silk similar in shape to those 
used in other plate machines. This I de- 
ddedly prefer to dried flannel, as suggested 
by Mr. ** L." Both methods I have tried, 
and the former I must say is far superior to 
the latter. 

If it is the intention of Mr. '* L." to 
construct an electrical machine on my prin- 
ciple, I shall be very happy at any time to 



AOniCULTU&AL IMPLBlfBNTS. — KOTAL 
AG&ICULTT7RAL SOCIBTt's XXHIBITIOK 
AT TOBK. 

We extract from the T^met the following 
account of the prises and medals awarded 
for agrieultaral implements at this week's 
York Meeting of the Royal Agricultural 
Society. The great number of portable 
steam-engines brought forward is remark- 
able ; and is no doubt to be accounted for 
by the near vicinage of the great manufac- 
turing towns of I^ds, Sheffield, Birming- 
ham, &c. At the Newcastle Exhibition 
there were only three exhibited ; at the 
Northampton but one. On the present oc- 
casion the number exhibited was no less 
than seventeen. The prize for the best, it 
will be seen, was awarded to Mr. Homsby, 
of Lincohi. 



For tlie best plough for heavy land, 10^, the Ist 
of 83— Mr. BuBby. \ 

For the be«t plough for light land, 10/., and 2d of 
30 — Mesirs. Howard and Son. 

For the beet drill for general purposet, 15/., the 
1st of 17— Mr. Homsby. 

For the best turnip-drill on the flat. 10/., the 6th 
of 37— Mr. Garrett. 

For the best turnip-drill on the ridge, 10/., the 4th 
of 1 7 — Mr. HomsbT. 

For the best scarifier or grubber, 10/., the 1st o( 
18 — Messrs. Sharman and Co. 

For the best machine for making draining tiles 
or pipes, 20/., the 1st of 5— Mr. Whitehead. 

For the best harrow, 5/., the 16th of 30->Messrs. 
Howard and Son. 

For the best steaming apparatus, 10/., the 1 6th 
of 18— Messrs. Sharman and Co. 

For the best sUm or paring plough, 5/., the 6th 
of 6— Mr. Kilby. 

For the best horse seed-dibbler, 10/., the Ist of 4 
— Mr. Newberry. 

For the best one-horse cart, 5/., the Ist of 4— 
Mr. Eaton. 

For the best waggon, 10/., the 35th of 71— Mr. 
Stratton. 

For the best thrashing machine, 20/. 

For the best steam-engine, 50/., the 7th of 17 — 
Mr. Homsby. 

For the best com-dressing machine — 10/. 

For the best gorsebruiscr, 5/., the 13tb of 38— 
Messrs. Barrett, Exall, and Co. 

For the best implement for difttributing pulverised 
manure, 10/., the 6th of 17— Mr. Homsby. 

For the best grate or »tove for cottages, 5/., the 
2lBt of 32— Mr. W. N. Nicliolson. 

MBDALS. 

Norwegian harrow, the 82nd of 91— Mr. CroskilL 

Hay-making machine, the 1st of 18— Mr. Smith, 
of Stamford. 

Horse-rakc, the Htli of 14— Mr. Ilensman. 

Horse-hoe on the flat, thi) 11th of 37— Mr. Gar- 
rett. 

Horse-hoo on the ridje, the 7th of 33— Mr, 
Busby. 

Grass-land cultivator, the 21st of 33 — Mr. Busby. 

Linseed and corn-crusher, the 15th of 18 — Messrs. 
Sharman and Co. 

Liquid manure drill, the 2nd of 2— Mr. T. Chand- 
ler. 



70 



WXBKIT LIST OV KEW SK(}II8& PATBHTft. 



Chaff-entter, the 5th of 10— Mr. Conies. 

Cake-breaker, the 4th of 32—Mr. W. N. Nichol- 
son. 

Root-washer, the 61st of 01— Mr. CroskilL 

Cesspool and tank-cleanser, the 4th of 12— Means. 
Dean, Dray, and Co. 

Cheese-press, the 8th of 11— Mr. Bnickshaw. 

Shock remorer, the 2nd of 6— Mr. Summers. 

Level— Mr. Blundell. 

For improvements in the transparent water gauge, 
as attached to the steam engine — Mr. Hope. 

Steaming apparatus, 6th of 10— Mr. R. Robinson, 
Belfast. 

The 12 sheds of the implement yard are 
diyided into 158 stands, each exhibitor 
having one for himself, and having his 
instmrnents numbered and ticketed therdn. 
Some of the stands have only one article 
exhibited in each, while others have as many 
as from 30 to 90. There are 16 machinists 
who have each contributed from 30 to 90 
articles, but of that number only seven have 
been successful enough to obtain prises, so 
that from this fact the inferenee may be 
fairly drawn that the judges have paid more 
attention to the quality than to the quantity 
of implements exhibited. Of the 21 prises 
and 17 medals awarded, 4 have been given 
to Mr. Homsby, 3 to *Mr. Busby, 2 to 
Messrs. Howard and Son, 2 to Mr. Cross- 
kell, 2 to Mr. Garrett, and 2 to Messrs. 
Sharman and Co. Mr. Homsby, who ex- 
hibited only 17 articles, must be considered 
the most successful competitor of the show. 
The prizes won by him are all large ones, 
being awarded for important Implements. 
The steam-engine to which a 50/. prize was 
given is thus described in the catalogue : 

" A six-horse power portable steam-engine ; in- 
vented, improved, and manufactured by the exhi- 
bitor. It 18 simple in its conBtruction, fitted with 



governors, and easy to manage, with tubular boiler, 
flre-box, and smoke-box complete." 

Mr. Busby's plough for heavy land " is 
capable of working 12 inches deep when re- 
quired, and with a lighter mould-board will 
not be found too heavy to be used as a two- 
horse plough.'' Its price is 5/., and it has 
now the recommendation of being a second 
time successful, having won a similar prize 
at Northampton. Messrs. Howard's plough 
for light land is an improvement on their 
patent iron plough with two wheels, which 
has been successful at all the meetings of the 
society. The alteration introduced is a new 
method of fixing the wheels, by which the 
width of furrow may be altered more readily 
than upon the old plan ; it is also superior 
for deep ploughing, and upon dirty land, 
where the soil accumulates on the old slid- 
ing axle. 

Mr. Garrett's " furnip drill on the flat " 
is also an established favourite with the 
society, having won its prizes at Cambridge 
and Northampton ; it is called 

" A four-row lever drill, for the purpose of de- 
positing turnips or mangel wurzel seeds with arti- 



ficial or well-rotted fium-yaid manure, for eiihef 
flat or ridge-ploQghed lands. It is made with im- 
proved levers and coulters, whereby the manure 
may be deeply buried in the land below the seed, 
and any quantity of soil placed between them. The 
seed coulters may be adjusted to drill the seeds 
either deeper or fleeter, as circumstances may re- 
quire. This drill is also adapted Ibr dxilltag beans, 
peas, and carrots, with manure^ at any intervals 
apart." 

The steaming apparatus of Messrs. Shar- 
man and Co., the catalogue says — 

" Is adapted for quickly generating steam to be 
applied to the purposes of cooking Hnseed, chaff, 
potatoes, and otoer food for eattle. It is made of 
copper and galvanized iron, and oaa be used with- 
out the aid of brickwork. A Jet of steam is so in- 
troduced into the compound tub as to keep the food 
in agitation, and obviate the naceaeity of stininff it 
up in the ordinary way." 

The machine for making tUhng, draiaf, 
and pipes to which the prize was awarded is 
a new hivention of Mr. John Whitehead, of 
Preston, Lancashire. It is very strong, and 
the box will contain 8,744 cubic indues of 
day. It is thus described : — 

'* It may be easily turned the whole day by one 
man, who also may fill the box, while a boy euta 
the tiles off and carries them away. The firont of 
the box Is large enough to receive a die-plate, with 
seven U-inch or five 2-iDfih tiles in width, and If 

? laced one upon anothei, twelve l^-inch or nine 
•inch tiles. Any description of tiles may be made 
by this machine. A vrrought iron screen plate may 
be attached when tiles are not being made, for the 
f uzpose of extraoting stones from the day.** 



WKSKLT LIST OF NEW XNGLISH PATElfT«. 

Walter Orsell Palmer, of Southacre, near Swaff- 
ham, Norfolk, farmer, for improvements in machi- 
nery for threshing and dressing eom. July 10; six 
mouths. 

Anthony Lorimler, of Beirs-buildlngs, Saliabury- 
square, City, bookbinder, for improvements in com- 
bining gutta percha and caoutchouc with other 
materials. July 10; six months. 

Richard Roberts, of the Globe Works, Manches- 
ter, engineer, lor certain improvements in and 
applicable to clocks and other tbne-keepers, in 
machinery or apparatus for winding clocks and 
hoisting weights, and for effecting telegraphic com- 
munications between distant clocks and placea 
otherwise than by electro-magnetism. July 11 *, six 
months. 

Leon Castelain, of Poulton-square, Middlesex, 
chemist, for improvements in the manufacture of 
soap. July 11; six months. 

Felix Alexander Fessad de Beauregard, of Paris^ 
engineer, for improvements in generating steam, 
and in the means of obtaining power from steam 
engines. July 1 1 ; six months. 

Matthew Kirtley, of Derby, engineer, for iok- 
provements in the manufacture of railway wheels. 
July 11 ; six months. 

Jesse Ross, of Leicester, agent, for improvements 
in apparatus for dibbling and other agrioultural 
purposes ; part of which improvements are applica- 
ble to propelling vessels. July II ; six months. 

William Edwards Staite, of Lombard-stieei, City, 
gentleman, for improvements in the construction 
of galvanic batteries, in the formation of magnets, 
and in the application of electricity and magnetism 
for the purpose of lighting and signalizing, as also 
a mode or modes of employing the said galvanic 
batteries, or some of them, for the piupose of ob- 
taining chemical producU; parts of which improve- 
ments are a communication. July 12 ; six months. 



n 

trBBKI.T LIST OF DK8ION8 FOE ARTICLKS OF UTILITY EBOTSTBRBD. 

0<t«of Ncln 
telctn-theBe- 

noB. gister. Proprietors* Namet. Addretges. Subjects of Designs. 

July 5 1491 Charles Gneimay Park-street, Grosrenor-aqaare... Stock. 

7 149S Biehard Restall Croydon Cylindrical brooch protector. 

10 1493 George Frederick Mor- 

rell Fleet-street Flower and plant label. 

11 1494 John Sparks King-street, Tower Hill Railway dispatch and cash 

box. 

11 1495 William N. Nicholson ... Newark-on-Trent Newark cottage range. 

,. 1496 Wniiam Bullock Tib- 
bits M Branston Spring holdftit for window 

sashes. 

„ 1497 William Rawlings Sobey Exeter Spring lock for a brooch. 

„ 1498 Oilbert Dickinson New Bond-street Artists' Tadc mecum. 



GUTTA PERCHA COMPANY'S WORKS« 

WHARF ROAD, CITY ROAD, 

London, Ut April, 1848. 

THB GUTTA PEBCHA COMPANY have great pleasnie in stating that the steadily increasing demand 
ibr the Patbkt Gunx Fxhcha Drxviko Bansb justiflea the utmost confidence that they are ftiUy 
arovoved. 

Tbebr dnTabUity and strength— permanent contractility and uniformity of substance— their non-suioep- 
tIMlity of injury from contact with Oils, Grease, Acids, Alkalies, or Water— and the facility with whlcU the 
single joint required can be made in Bands of any length— render them superior for almost all working 
purposes, and decidedly economical. 

OoLosHJM, TvBiKO of all sizes, Bouoibs, Cathsteks, Stethkscopxs, and other Surgical Instruments; 
Movu>i]rot#0K PicTunx Feakss and other decorative purposes; Whips, Thomos; Txmnis, Golf, and 
Ckxckxt Balls, &g., in great variety. 

Patent Ontta Perclia Shoe Soles. 

The applicability of Qutta Percha Soles for Boots and Shoes having been extensively and satisikctorily 
tested, we can unhesitatingly recommend the material prepared for this purpose, its merits having been 
acknowledged by all who have tried it. Indeed, experience has proved that Gntta Perclia Soles wear twice 

aa loog as leather, with great additional personal comfort; and they remain perfectly impervious to wet 

ontit quite worn through. 

Boot and Shoe Soles for Summer Wear. 

The £sct of the total impervlousness of these Soles to water, enables the most delicate, by the use of 
them, to escape the suffering which the prov^bial uncertainty of our climate, xven xk Summsb, so often 
inilicts upon the incautious, and this efiect may be secured by a Sole so thin and light, as to afford to the 
wearer a degree of ease and comfort hitherto unattainable, in conjunction with security against damp. 

At lie mme iinu, iht rtmarkobU non-conducting propertiet of Crutta Percha afford a most vaiuablt pro- 
Uetion to tko$e who are tubjected to tuffering or inconvenience by walking upon heated pavemenii. 

The question of the durability of Gutta Percha Soles, aa compared with Leather, has long since been 
decided in fhvour of the former; and no Instance of failure has yet come to tiie knonr- 
ledse of tbe Company which may not be ascribed to a neglect of their printed 



TO ARCHITECTS, BUILDERS, &c. 

Copper-1/Vlre Cord. 

p 8. NEW ALL & Co.'s PATENT IMPROVED COPPER-WIRE CORD for WINDOW SASH LINES, 
Hot-houses, Lightning Conductors, Hanging Pictures, Clock Cord, and Tarious other purposes for 
vhleh hempen rope has hitherto been used. This now and valuable Patent is fast superseding the use 
•f the hempen cord, and is strongly recommended to all Builders and other parties connected with the 
above. The Wire Cord may be had wholesale, and specimens seen at the Office of the Patentees, No. I6S, 
ftachnxch-ttreet, W. T. ALLEN, Agent; or retail of G. and J. DEANE, 46, King William-street, and 
C PARKS, 140, Fiaet-street ; also of all respectable Ironmongers. 



The Meteorological Society of London. 

/OBJECTS : to spread a hnowledge of Meteorology and to obtain information as to the Causes which 
operate in producing Changes and Modifications in the condition of the Atmosphere. Persons wishing 
to become Members of this Society, or to further its objects by Donations, may apply for copies of the 
Enles, &c., to Mr. Louis Casella, Treasurer, pro. tem.t 23, Hatton Garden, London; or to Lieut. Morrison, 
R.N., II, Acre-hine, Brixtoo; P. L. Simmonds, Esq., 6, Barge-yard, City; or W. H. White, Esq., 33, 
Albany-road, CamberweU, Secretary, pro, tern. 



72 



ADYERTISEMBMTS. 



The Railway Record, 

(EDITED BY JOHN ROBERTSON, M.A.,) 

IS published early every Saturday Morning, and 
contains full and exclusive Reports of all Rail- 
way Meetings, wltlx the Official Documents in full ; 
Railway Law Cases, Railway Share Lista, and 
Traffic Returns, and all matters affecting Railway 
Proprietors. It is considerably larger than any 
other Railway Paper, and is exclusively devoted to 
this branch of enterprise. 

Tk* Railwaf Record will be found a peculiarly 
eligible medium for Advertisers of all articles con- 
nected with Railwav Companies, and all matteis, 
whether of use or luxury, which it is sought to 
bring under the notice of Oapitaliats. 

Price 6d.sumped; Office, 158, Fleet^street, 
London. 



To XSngiiieers and Bollei^ 
Makers. 

LAP- WELDED IRON TUBES, FOR MARINE 
AND LOCOMOXITB SJEAM - BOILERS, 
Tubes for Steam, Gas, and other purposes ; — all 
sorU of Gas Fittings. The Binningnam Patent Iron 
Tube Company, 42) Oambrldgo-atreet, Birmingham, 
and Smethvrick, Staffordshire, manoiacture Boile^a 
and Gas Tubes, under an exclusive License f^om 
Mr. Richard Prosser, the Patentee. 

These Tubes are extensively used in the Boilers 
of Marine and Locomotive Steam Engines in 
England and on the Continent; — are Stronger, 
Lighter, Cheaper, and more Durable than Brass or 
Copper Tubes, and are warranted not to open in 
the weld. 

42, CAMBRIDOEpSTREET, CRESCENT, 

BIRMINGHAM. 

Works-r-Smethwick, Staffoiddilra. 

LONDON WAREHOUSE^ No. 68, UPPER 

THAMES-STREET. 



Publiihed Every Saturday f price Sixpetue, 
THE 

MINING JOURNAIs, 

RAILWAY AND COMMERCIAL GAZETTE; 
A WBBKLY NBW8PAPBK ; VORMING A 

Complete History of the Commercial and Scientific 

Progress of 

MINES AND RAILWAYS, 

And a carefully- collated Synopsis, wfth numerous 

Illustrations of all 
NEW INVENTIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS 

XM 

MECHANICS AND CIVIL ENGINEERING: 
Prices of Stocks, Ores, Metals, and Materials; 
ReporU of the Proceedings of Public Companies ; 
the Transactions of Sdentillc Bodies ; Official and 
Exclusive Information from Mining Districts, 
abroad and at home, &c., &c. ■ 

Office : 2G, Fleet-street, London. 

Now ready, price 2s., 

A Glossary- of MBnint; and 
Smelting Terms, 

Used in English and Foreign Mining Districts. 
T>UBLISHED at the Office of the Mining Jonr- 
•*■ nat, 26, Fleet-street, London ; and may be had 
of John Wcale, 59, High Holborn; and through all 
bookiellers in town and country. 



The People's Journal and 
Hqwitt's Journal Combined! 

Now Publishing, in Weekly Numbers, Price Thiee> 
halfpence, and Monthly Parts, 

THE PEOPLFS JOURNAL, with which is In- 
corporated HOWITT'S JOURNAL: an Illua- 
trated Periodical for all classes. 

The Proprietors of the PEOPLE'S JOURNAL 
beg to inform the Subscribers to these popular 
works, and the Public, that having purchased the 
copyright of HOWITT'S JOURNAL, they have 
determined upon uniting the two, in order thereby 
more eflectually to carry out the views and princi- 
ples of the former proprietors ; and while they con- 
sistently inculcate truth, morality, and good taste. 
exclude fhnn their columns all that may offisud 
propriety; sedulously endeavouring, without xegard 
to cdst or trouble, to promote that progress in social 
science which it has hitherto been the aim of these 
periodicals to advance, and which must ultimately 
tend to secure to every man a full and perfect en-> 
Joyment of bodily health, naental vigour, and that 
better than all earthly gifts— a well*ordeied and 
comfortable home. 

With a desire to promote these ol^ects, they have, 
with the commencement of the present volume, 
permanently enlaced the Journal;' thus giving 
Sixteen fUir pages of Literature, chiefly original, 
with two pages of Advertisements and a Beautiftal 
Illustration, the full size of the letter-preu. The 
engraving is printed on superior paper, and so 
arranged that it may be detached, and bound In ita 
proper place at the completion of the volume. 

London: Published by WILLOUG^BY and Co., 
at the 

"PEOPLE'S JOURNAL" OFFICE, 

S2, Warwick-lane, Paternoster-row; and sold by all 

Booksellers. 



NOTICES TO COHRESPONDSNTS. 

Our " Buddtrtjleld*' eorretpondent Aaa been iat- 
ptmd upon ; the halfjfearly Supplement, with Table 
Index, 4«., wu published grmlU, 

Mr. Dredge* e paper on the Sea Wall QiMftfen it 
unapoidably postponed till next Ufeek. 

Mr. Halles' Orrery Globe.— il pair of gUbee am 
this plan mag now be seen at the Polgteeknie IntU" 
tution; theu are verg beauHfullg made, and explain 
Mr. HaiM peculiar aetronomieal oiewe, better tkam 
angthing which he hoe get printed on the eub^t. 



CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER. 
Description of Dr. Alban's Improved Steam 

Boiler— (vi(A engravinge)^ 49 

Walker's Patent Hydraulic Engine SS 

Cutler's Patent Welded Lap Iron Tubes ...... ... 54 

The Model Lodging Houses for the Working 

Classes— Letter to Lord Ashley 54 

Improvements In Construction, and 
Auxiliary Legislative Measures Sug- 
gested—Repeal of the Brick Duty and 
Window Tax, &c. 
. Baron von Rathen's Compressed-Air Loco- 
motive „ tl 

Description of the System of Ventilation and 
Warming idopted at the Model Prison, Pen- 

tonviile— <ma engravingey-iconeluded) 6S 

The Gresham Professorships -Second Notice... C4 

Electrical Machines ^ 69 

Agricultural Implements— Prises and Med&Is 
Awarded at the Royal Agricultural Society'a 

Exhibition at York „ ..^ 69 

Weekly List of New English Patents 70 

Weekly List of New Articles of UtUity Rois- 
tered ^..,«....... n 

Advertisementi ......^ ,...;........ 71 






iniecftanic0 iBafia^ttu, 

MUSEUM, REGISTER, JOURNAL, ANJ> GAZETTE. 

No. 1302.] SATURDAY JULY 22, 1848. [Price 3if., Stamped, 4 J. 

Rdlted by J. C. Robertson. IM, Fleet-«trMt. 

THE NEWARK COTTAGE RANGE. 
Fig. 1. 




TOL. XLIX. 



M 



THB NSWARK COTTAQB BAKOB. 

ClUfiatewd under the Act for the ProtecUon of Arttctei of Utility. Mr. VT, Vf Klchotoon, 

Newark-on-Trent, Agricultural Implement Maker, InTentorO 

The «« Newark Cottege Range," repre- 
sented in the accompanying engravinge. 
obtained the prize at tne York Agricultural 
Meeting last week, as the best of thirty- 
two articles of this description then ex- 
hibited, and will be found on examina- 
tion fully to justify the preference given 
to it. 

Fig. 1 18 a front tIcw of it in perspec- 
tive; and fig. 2 a croas-seotion of it 
throujgh the centre of the fire place. 

A is the fire range, which consists sim- 
ply of a frontage of Yertical bars, con- 
tained in a frame which slides up and 
down in grooTes. The two sides of the 
interior of the fire-place are composed 

of cheeks of fire-clay, and the back, G, 

of a slab of the same material, which is of 

the peculiar angular form shown in fig. 

2, and so inclined towards the bottom bar 

of the range as to render any bottom 

grate unnecessarT. B is a fall bar which 

is swivelled so that it can either be let 

down over the fire-place or over tiie 

hearth, according to the degree of heat 

desired to be imparted to the pot» kettle, 

or other article placed upon it. A side- 
view of this bar and the parts connected 

with it is given in Fig. 3. C ia the 

oven, the door of which forma a conve- 
nient hot shelf when turned down ; D 

is the boiler; and F the boiler Hd, which 

fits into a sunk joint so as to come per- 
fectly flush with the rest of the top of 

the boiler. 
The smaUness of the fire space in this 

apparatus, and the narrowing of it in the 

line of least utility, namely ^om back 

to front, are circumstances highly favour^ 

able to economy of combustion ; while 

the fire-cUy sidoi and bock most effectu- 
ally protect the ac^acent oven and boiler 

from the direct action of the fire, and 

render them consequently much more 

durable than usual. 

To free the fire-place from ashes, all 

that is necessary to be done, ia to raise 

the front range a little, when the cinders 

will fall out by their own weight from 

ofi^ the inclined back, G i no raking what- 
ever required. The flues also may be 

cleared through the doors, EE, without 

disturbing the fire. 
The cost of this very simple and most 

efficient apparatus, is not much greater 




Fig. 3. 



'o' 



S 



(£ 



A 



If^ 



than that of the worst and commonest 
article of the grate and stove class. One 
with oven and boiler complete costs from 
35s. to 408. ; with oven only and Bhxm 
side, it may be had for 258. 



iMAf. DlAKSy DEAT, AKB DSANB's PORTAJSLB FIRS-SNOIKK AKH WATIRINO PUMP. 
[Regiitered under the Act for tlie Protection of Artidei of Utilily.] 




We here present our readers with an- 
odier of the articles which had the good 
fortune to be honoured with a prize at 
the late York Agricultural Meeting. It 
was one of twelve machines exhibited, 
hanag for their common object the com- 
bination in one framework, and on one 
set of wheels, of an irrigating engine 
and a fire engine. The pump is of the 



same class as that described in a former 
number of this Magaaine (vol. xltiH. p. 
150,) hayine an air-vessel surrounding 
the barrel of the pump. By the exertion 
of a little force, two men are able to 
send a stream of water on to the top of 
a building of considerable heiffht; and 
for watering purposes a single hand can 
command a circle of aboutSO ft. diameter. 



8TKAjy[ BOILER WATER OAUGB. 

C&egiftered under the Act for the Protection of Articles of UtQity. George H9re> ti 199^ Qxetk 
GuUdford-street, Southwark, Engineer, Pn^iietor.] 

This is another very useful 



very usetul mven- 
tion, which obtained an honorary me- 
dal at the late York Agricultural Meet- 
ing.* Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of 
so much of this gauge as is necessary to 
show the peculiarity in its construction. 
A is one of the sockets into which one 
end of the glass tube, B, is fixed. C is 
tfaoe aperture of communication with the 

* In our last week's list, the name of the inven- 
tor wat erroneovaly gtren as HopCf Instead of 
JETowf. 



boiler, and D a nut for closing up the 
opening through which the tube is slipped 
into its place. E is a ring, of vulcanized 
caoutchouc, which is first passed over the 
end of the glass tube, after which the 
glass tube, with the ring upon it, is put 
through the socket, A, and drawn up 
until the ring rests against the shoulder, 
a a, of the socket. By this arrangement 
any leakage is entbrelv prevented, while, 
at the same time, it admits of Ae expan- 
B 2 



76 



SEA WALLS SHOULD THEY BE SLOPING OR VERTICAL ! 



Fiff. I. 




sion and contraction of the parts without 
eidanfering the glass. 

A pTan of the glass tube, B, and vul- 
canised ring, £ (before being put into 
the socket) is given in fig. 2. 

SXA-WALLS — SHOULD THBT BB SLOPING 
OR YBRTICAL? 

Sir, — The form of sea walls is a sub- 
iect of considerable importance, particu* 
larlj at this moment, when a large 
amount of public money is about to be ex- 
pended in works of this description, in the 
construction of harbours of refuge. Now 
that the subject is broached in the pages 
of the Meckanics* MagoMine, the anta- 
gonistic opinions which exist are likely 
to give rise to a great deal of discussion. 

As I have only superficially glanced 
through the Report of the Dover Har- 
bour Commissioners, I cannot with confi- 
dence refer to any of the evidence. My 
remarks will therefore be applied only to 
those papers that have lately appeared in 
your Journal. , 



There are two poinU to which we must 
particularly pay attention in considering 
the construction of sea walls : 

First, The nature and the direction of 
the force of the waves acting against the 
wall; and 

Secondly, The most effective form of 
the wall in resisting this force, which 
depends in a measure upon the nature of 
the material of which the wall is com- 
posed. 

First, then, the agiution of the sea is 
caused by the horisontal force of the 
wind. The tempest in passing over the 
surface of the water at first produces a 
ripple — ^which increases until the waves 
rise to the height we daily witness. 

The wind acting in a horizontal direc- 
tion produces (so to speak) a mechanical 
effect, which must be absorbed in urging 
the water in the direction in whicn it 
acts, and by the friction between the par- 
ticles of water in the rise and depression 
of the waves. That the waves of the 
sea move in the direction of the wind is 
evident from the effect produced by it on 
the ebb and flow of the tide. 

That the force of a wave arises from 
something more than its mere altitude is 
plain from the registrations of Mr. Ste- 
phenson's Marine Dynamometer, (see 
ante vol. xlviii., p. 436,) and from the fact 
of the great height to which spray is occa- 
sionally projected. I have seen the sprsiy 
in the Bristol Channel thrown fifty feet 
above high water level. 

The object of a sea wall in the con- 
struction of a harbour of refuge is to 
break the force of the waves; on one 
side of the wall the sea is raging with ail 
the violence of a tempest, on the other 
side it is comparatively tranquil; the 
force of the waves is destroyed by the in- 
terposition of the wall; which. must re- 
ceive it. But is a vertical face best 
adapted for this purpose ? Is it pro- 
bable that this form has the power of 
suddenly checking the force of the 
waves and drawing a distinct line between 
the raging sea and a complete calm, 
without receiving any shock? And if 
the wall does receive a shock, is not the 
vertical form essentially weak to resist 
it P Of course, the arguments in favour 
of a vertical wall are founded upon the 
supposition of the action of the waves 
being only in a vertical direction; but 
what grounds arc there for this opinion ? 
All the arguments in support of it appear 



8BA WALL8-raH0mi> THEY BE SLOPING OR VERTICAL ? 



77 



to me extremely weak and hypothetical. 
Of what use would a floating breakwater 
be if the action of the waves were only 
▼erdcal? 

In my judgment Professor Airey at- 
taches too much importance, to the bare 
fiust of his rising and falling on the sur- 
face of the wayes, in an open boat within 
a few yards of the Swansea-pier, without 
striking against it. A wall built across a 
river would effectually stop Uie running 
of the stream ; so also a vertical wall in 
the sea, as long as it stood, would check 
any current at right angles to its faces ; 
the boat containing Professor Airey stood 
no chance of stming against. the pier 
unless the water could flow freely through 
it (which was impossible.) If there 
were any current within a few yards of 
the wall it must have been parallel to, 
and not at right angles with its faces. A 
similar efiect may be witnessed if the 
pier of a bridge m a. running stream be 
made flat to the stream, as represented in 
the following diagram. A cork at a 




would float in its position without being 
in any danger of striking against the 
masonry B, the water here being sta- 
tionary. But who can say that the pres- 
sure of the stream on the bridge is less 
on that account P Indeed it appears to 
me that there is a perfect analogy be- 
tween the piers of a bridse and a sea 
wall, and that if we admit the arguments 
in fayour of a vertical wall we should be 
justified in adopting the flat-sided pier, 
instead of the pointed cutwater univer- 
sally used. 

Secondly, A vertical wall to resist an 
impelling force is much weaker than one 
with a sloping face, both because it 
stands upon a kss base and depends upon 



the bonding of the stones for its security, 
whilst the wall having an exterior slope 
presents a larger base to resist die force 
of the waves, and the ^tones being in 
the natural position, are not so liable to 
be disturbed. 

On the whole, the question appears 
to come to this : Is it wiser to resist the 
violence of the waves by breaking them 
and receiving the force in detail up an 
inclined plane — or to resist it unbroken 
by a perpendicular face? The first 
would undoubtedly be more liable to 
injury in places, for single stones or even 
yards may be shifted, but sudb damage 
might be easily repaired; while a vertical 
wall, if once penetrated WQuld be de- 
stroyed inevitably. 

I cannot think therefore that it is pru- 
dent to abandon a principle, which ex- 
perience has provea to be efficient in 
practice, for one which, to say the most 
of it, is altogether theoretical. 

I remain, Sir, yours obediently, 

M, 

LondoDj Bfay 18» 1848. , 



SXA-WALLS — SHOULD THXY BE 8L0PIM0 
OR VBRTICAI. ? 

Sir, — Your review of "the Account 
of the Pljrmouth Breakwater, by Sir 
John Rennie," and the subsequent pub- 
lication of an Abstract of the Report of 
the Dover Harbour Commissioners, to- 
gether with the Protest of Sir Howard 
I)ouglas, seem to have attracted the 
attention of many of your readers to this 
most important subject. 

Local circumstances always inflaenee 
the design in every class of engineering 
work; therefore, with regard to the 
general plan proposed, I have nothing to 
say, but shall confine Itny remarks en- 
tirely to the consideration of the form of 
wall proposed, and particularly at present 
to the inclination proper to be given to 
the sea face. 

All the arguments that have been 
urged in support of the theory of vertical 
wdls, are founded on the supposition 
that die motion of the sea during a tem- 
pest is wholly vertical— that the waves 
would oscillate without breaking upon 
the perpendicular face of the wail, and 
merely cause a varying pressure against 
it. I have carefully perused the Report 
of the Commissioners, and cannot see 
sufficient to justify such a conclusion. 



is 



8XA WAttS — SBOVLD THBY BX StOPIKO OR VXRTICAL? 



Initaneefl are addneedwbere the gradual 
slope has Med ; but, generally speaking, 
the injury was of a partial kind, and 
either done during the progress of the 
work or before the mass became suffi- 
ciently consolidated; and in every in- 
stance the iinury has demonstrated the 
Value of the slope by decreasing its angle 
of eleration. Many engineers of emi- 
nence, and Bcientille men of high reputa- 
tion, are in fiivonr of yertical walls. But, 
on the other hand, there are also many 
engineers who oppose the doctrine, whilst 
the past experience qf Smeaton and 
Rennie can well afford to be placed in 
Jilxta-position with the theory of Profes- 
sor Airy (I speak with eveiy respect 
towards the Astronomer Royal;. 

Daily experience shows us that the 
wind, which is the cause of motion in 
the sea, moves in a horisontal direction, 
and urges paper, leaves, dust, and other* 
light particles of matter in the direction 
in which it blows. Does it not appear 
reasonable, therefore, that the sea, upon 
the waters of which the wind has iSuch 
almost unlimited power, should be simi- 
larly influenced ? 

It Has been urged that a vertical wave 
falling upon the sea slope of a break- 
water, would break by the force aoou- 
raulated in its descent, and that the 
water thereof would be urged with f reat 
violence up the Inolined plane. Now, 
so f«r is this tnjm being the case, that it 
is jQst the reverse of what actually oe- 
edfs. Wot (he slope, instead of facili- 
tathig the flow of water np it, tends to 
throw it back asain towards the sea, fts 
may be easily demonstrated by reference 
to the tbUowing diagram, in whioh 




a b repfeeents the sea-ilope, and e d the 
vertical direetlon of a wave. Draw a 
perpendienlar line, c d, from a b, at the 
point d, at whieh the wave would strike. 
It If a #tll*kiMMni j»ioperty in physics. 



that the angle of percussion is ecjoal to 
the angle of recoil: consequently, eJcr^ 
cdfy and df would be the direction hi 
which a vertical wave would recoil from 
the inclined plane, a 6, which, being 
acted upon by gravity, is still farther 
deflected to the line, dg. Thus, then, 
if the water of the sea during a eale had 
only a vertical motion, it should, when 
breaking on the slope, be urged in the 
direction d a towards the foot, instead of 
in the direction de, towards the summit 
of the slope. And the stones whieh, 
during the gales which damaged the Ply- 
mouth Bretucwater, were flung landwara, 
would hare been found at the fbot of the 
incline. 

Mr. Thomas Stevenson's excellent ex- 
periments show, beyond question, that 
there is a very great horizontal pres- 
sure in the motion of the sea. His ma- 
rine dynanometer redstered nearly three 
tons per square foot during a gale off the 
Skerry vore Rock. This could not possibly 
be the result of. vertical osoillation only; 
for the statical pressure of the highest 
wave would not amount to one half of it 
Neither could it have been the result of 
impact from the effect of a vertieal wave ; 
for during the transmission of the force 
of a wave from a vertical to a horisontal 
line, a sufiicient interval of time would 
elapse to prevent thb. Spray hi often 
thrown 100 feet above the crest of the 
highest wave. If the cause of this were 
investigated, it would not be found to 
proceed from the rising and falling of 
the wave; for it is impossible that the 
vertical oscillation of a wave 80 feet high 
can dash spray to the height of 120 feet. 
The stability of a wall, by which I 
mean its resistance en moase to an over- 
throwing force, is compounded of its 
weight and breadth. It is evident that 
a wall with a sea slope possessed these 
qualities in the highest degree. 

A wall with a vertical face mast be 
composed of hswn stone, and dependiB 
for its strength upon the bond : if, there- 
fore, the stone eomposing - the wall be 
once shaken in its bed, nothing can 
restore the stability of the mass. 

On the other hand, when the break- 
water is composed of rough blooks whioh 
are suffered to And their natural inolina* 
tion, the damage arising from storms is 
entirely superficial; for though a few 
hundred tons of stone may be heaved 
from theUr ph»e by the tioleode of the 



I 



A FRAOMBNT ON LOGIC. 



79 



gBl^ Uiisy 80 hr from producing my 
leriouB injury, has quite a contrary effect, 
by tending materially to consolidate the 



I will take an early opportunity of re- 
turning to this moat interesting subject. 
I am, Sir, yours, &e., 

William Dkbdob. 
10, Koriblk-street, Str&nd, Jane 18, 1846. 

F&A6MKNT ON LOOIC. BT JAMB8 COOI^LB, 
saa., M.A., BARRI8TB&.AT-LAW* 

Fully sensible of the ralue of the re- 
cently published researches of Mn Boole 
on die Setence of Logic, I feel it right 
to point out what I deem a misconcep- 
tion on the part of that learned writer. 

Mr. Boole has observed, that 

** Those relations which lo|ieiatis daatg* 
oats by the terms oonditioiuly di^junetiye, 
Ice., are referred by Kant to distinct ceti- 
ditkms of thought. But it is a very re- 
SHurkable ftiet, that the expressions of such 
relations can be dedaced the one from the 
ether by mere analytical process."* 
' It ia true that Kant has (Loaie;^ p. 
151) stated that categorical, hypothetical, 
ind disjunctive judgments "depend upon 
MBeQtii41y distinct logical functions rf the 
mnderstanding" .... But % think that 
tiie following quotations and remarks 
frill m^e it clear that the NftwroN of 
IIetaphtsiob was quite awa^e of the 
connection between diqunoti? e and other 
judgments. 

In the note at p. 113 of bi^ ProUgo- 

AisB-fCll. .. (I.), and that— If A is B, A is note... (2.) 

combining (1) and (2) we infbr that A is either B or C — a disjunctive judgment. And 
this disjunctive ju(^^ment mAy also be arrived at by combining the tvoo categorioal 
judgments 

A Is B4>C • . < (1.) and, tiiat which is B is not C . . . (2.), 

fod this last mode of derivation would be equally in conformity with KANt'e 
view of the disjunctive judgment.f 
t, dmiitli-iFard Court, Ttmple, Jana 7, 1M7. 



menal Kant, speaking of the table of 
the Categories, pays ** that the third** of 
each class respectively, "arises from the 
first and the second conjoined in one con- 
ception...". Again, in his Critick of 
Pure Reason,^ he observes " that the 
third Categorv always arises from the 
combination of the second with the first 
of its class.'' And he illustrates this by 
saying, that " fFholeneee (Totality) is 
nothing else but plurality considered as 
unity; Limitation^ nothing else but re- 
alitj combined with negation ; Community 
is cetuecdity of a substance in determina- 
tion reciprocallv with others; lastly. 
Necessity is nothing else but the exist- 
ence which is given through possibility 
itself ..." [He then goes on to state that 
since this combination is effected by a 
particular actus of the understanding, 
the third Categories are primitive and 
not merely deduced conceptions of the 
pure understanding. This last state- 
ment explains the extract, which I have 
above given, from hik LogicJ] Now— 
The Categories have each as a basis a 

5 articular form of Judgment. Hiese 
udgments correspond In their proper- 
tied with the respective Categories wnich 
are founded on th6m. Hence the diS" 
junctive judgment Which corresponds to 
the Category of OommuDity arises from 
the combinaftn of It categorical and a 
hypothetical judgment. Kant has not, 
that I am aware of^ explicitly shown 
this, though he has implicitly afiirmed it, 
as I have just pointed ant. It may how- 
ever be proved as follatrs : Suppose that 



• OamMiM and Dubtin MaihemaUeal Journai, 
ToL ill., p. 197. 

t TranilAted by JoIid Rlchaidson. London, 1819. 

i Same translator and date a« the Logic, 

f P. 84 of the Translation, pabHshed by Pickering. 

ndM, 18M. Eead the whole of the Stmmd Ob- 
itrvaiion. pp. 84—85. 

I By B-f C is meant the whole class formed by 
the Junction of class B and class C, and conse- 
VvntlyC^jaMena that A is contained somewhere 
fttlw dSM fbzmed by the jonietioa of B and C, not 



that A is 6oM B and C. The following inustratlon 
will perhaps be considered as not improper. Let 
B and C be conceived as equal semicircleB on op- 
posite sides of the same diameter, th^n B+C de- 
notes the whole circle. Let A represent another 
space then by "A is B+C" U U Intended to be 
Alleged that A is within the circle, but nothing is 
Intended to be asserted respecting its position with 
refisrence to the semicircles B and C. 
% Critick of Pure Mtasgu, (Txmnslation) p. 75. 



80 



TIBBIT'S spring holdfast for window 8ASHK8. 

[RegUterod under the Act for the Protection of Articles of UtiUty. William Bullock Tibbitf, of 
Braunston, in the County of Northampton, Oentleman, Proprietor.] 

Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Fig. 3. 






Fig. 1 is an elevation, fig. 2 a section, 
and fig. 3 a plan of this holdfast. To 
every sash there may be two such hold- 
fitf ts, one on each side ; or, in some cases, 
one only may sufSce. Each hold&st 
consists of the several parts marked A, 
B, C, D, £, F, and G. A is a rack, which 
is affixed to one side of the sash ; B, is 
a plate of metal, which is let into the 
grooved recess in which the sash runs, 
on the side of that recess opposite to the 
rack ; C, is a roller, which is mounted in 
the plate, B, the ends of its axis resting 
in slots cut in the cheeks, D D, which 
are either either cast in one piece with, 



or otherwise affixed to the plate, B. £ 
is a bow -spring, which is attached at the 
middle to the back of the saddle-piece, F, 
and has its two end bearings in the pro- 
jecting pieces, G G. The sides of the 
saddle-piece rest on the axle of the roller, 
C, so that as the spring attached to this 
saddle-piece has, in its normal^ state, a 
constant pressure outwards, it keeps 
while in that state the roller constantly 
projected a little way beyond the face of 
the plate, B, and interlocked between 
two of the teeth of the rack, A, as shown 
in fig. 1. 
When the sash is raised or lowered 



81 



sparxb's railway dibpatch akd cash-box. 

and returns as instantaneously to its ori- 
ginal holdfast position oi ' 
that horisontal pressure. 



the roller yields instanUneously to the 
horisontal pressure resulting from the 
Tcrdcal moTement of the sash, and con- 
sequent action of the rack-teeth upon it, 



SPABKs'a AAILWAT DISPATCH AND GASH-BOX. 

[Registered under the Act for the Protection of Articles of Utility. John Sparks, of 12, King-«treet, 
Tower-hill, Builder, Proprietor.] 




Fig. 1 of the above engraving is a 
ftoQt elevation of this box, and fig. 2 a 
aeetional elevation on the line a 6 of fig. 1. 
A A, is the external shell of the box 
vrhieh is divided longitudinally into two 
eompartments by the partition, BB ; the 
lower compartment is for the reception 
of the articles to be conveyed, which are 
removed therefrom, at their destination, 
through the locked door, C. The upper 
eompwtment contains a cylinder, D, 
which is open on one side from c to </, 
and is suspended on* central pivots, c c, 
which have their bearings in tne ends of 
the box, so that the cyunder is free to 
turn upon them. £ is one of a pair of 
connecting bars (there being one to each 
end of the cylinder) which at the upper 
end 18 joined to the fly-lid, F, of the box, 
and at the lower end to the cylinder, so 



that when the fly-lid is lifted up, the open 
side of the cylinder is uppermost, and 
ready for the reception of the articles to 
be transferred to the box. When the 
lid is let down upon the box the cylinder 
is turned round, and the goods fall into 
the lower compartment, from which thev 
can only be taken through the door, C. 
G is one of a pair of sliding bolts which 
admit of the cylinder turning round only 
at such time as the box is standing in an 
upright position, and by coming against 
the projecting pins, //, render it imnos- 
sible to take anything from the box 
through the cylinder by taming it into 
any other position. 

ne think this apparatus meets more 
completely all the desiderata of the case 
than any other which has yet come under 
our notice. 



SOiriNIMG IVOKT. 



Sir,— In your Number for July 1, yoa state 
ha reply to " Y. X.'s" inquiry respecting the 
treatment of ivory, that " to soften is, in 



fast, to decompose and destroy it," and 
*' according to all past knowled^ and ex- 
perience, It does not admit of behig either 

s3 



82 



OEOMETRT OF THE LINE A^TD PLANE. 



moulded or emboB«ed»" &c. Permit me, 
through the medium of your valuable Jour- 
nal, to inform your correspoudent that about 
two years ago, a person named Maison, re- 
siding in Paris, invented a process of soft- 
ening ivory so as to render it capable of 
receiving any required impreuionr and of 
beiDg manufactured into articles of utility 
and ornament, such aa chairs, cablneta, 
baskets, vases, &c. I must acknowledge 
that objects manufactured by this process 
do not present so elegit an appearance as 
those made of carved ivory ( but M. Maison's 



inventioii offers this advfiitage; that itm 
cheapness would admit of the mora geaaral 
employment of ivory, the use of wliich sab- 
stance is now greatly restricted owing to the 
trouble and expense of carving. 

I believe that Maison was desirous of 
introdaoiiig his inTsntion into England, but 
that the price he asked for the secret was 
much too high to tempt a purchaser. 

I have the honour to be, 

Sir, yours very respectfUly, 

Ebub. 

London, July 5, 1848. . 



OBOMBTBT OF THB LINB AND PLAXB. — ^BT T. S. DAYIBSy F.B.8.y L. AND E., F.B.A., 
ROTAL ICZLITABT ACADBMT, WOOLWZOB. 

(Continued from page 465. ) 

Prop. XLI. 
If thm anff point Unet b0 drawm, one perpmidkmlar to a pUau^ and the other 
perpendicular to a Une in thai plane: then the pime through the Unet §o drawn 
will be perpendteular to the Une in the plane. 
From the poiot A let a perpendicular 
AB be drawn to the plane MN, and A£ 
perpendicuhir to a line CD in the plane 
MN; then if the plane PQ be drawn 
through AB, AE, it will be perpendicular 
to the line CD. 

For, in the plane PQ draw EF per- 
pendicular to BQ. Then, since the 
plane PQ is drawn through AB, and 
AB is perpendioular to MN, the plane 
PQ is perpendicular to MN. (f>ro«. 31.) : 
and since EF is drawn in the plane PQ 
nerpendicular to BQ, the intersectioo of 
MN, PQ, and PQ is itself perpendicular 
to MN, the line EP is perpendicular to 
the plane MN. (prop. 32.) Whence 
* afar to ED. ( 




EF is perpendiouli 



(prop. 24.) 



Also, AE IS perpendicular to £P by hypothesis ; »nd benee the lines A£, EF in 
the plane PQ are both perpendicular to the line CD, and the plane PQ» thertfore, 
itself perpendicular to CD. (jfnrop, 24.) 

COBOLLARIBS. 

This proposition admits of many modifications in the form of ha enaoeiation, soma 
of which are better adapted to particular purposes than others. Two of these, •• 
well as two simple deductions from the proposition, are annexed. 

1. If AB be perpendicular to the plane MN, and CD be a line in the plane MN, 
and if BE be drawn perpendicular to CD, then all linei drawn f^om £ to the per- 
pendioular AB will be perpendicular to CD. 

2. If AB, CD, MN, and BE be drawn as just described, and perpendiealaffs to 
CD be drawn from points in AB, they will all meet CD in the same point S. 

8. Under tl\f same hypothesis, any line EA' drawn to meet AB will be perpen- 
dicular to CD. 

4. Of the lines drawn from E to AB, the line EB In the plane MN is the least : 
and that (KA'in the figure) drawn to the point of AB nearer to B is less than the 
more remote. 



GEOMETRY OF THE LINE AND PLANE. 

Faop. XLII. 



83 



IftL Kne be mdmed to a plane, andUnei be drawn 4a Ike plane from ike point where 
the ineHned line meete it, thi angUe formed by the inclined Hne with the Un$t 
I will be eubfeei to the following relatione : 

The aente profile angle ie the least qf till. 
The obtuse profile angle is the greatest. 

The angle formed with the Hne Uast inclined to the aeuie prqflH 
trace is less than that farmed with the more remote one; and 
(4.) On^ two ef these angles can be equal, one lying m me sUtB tf th* 

profile plane, and the other on the other, 
(ft.) One UnCf and only onCf can be drawn in the pkme perptniittikar 
to the inclined Une, 




(1, 2.) Let AB be a line inclined to 
the plane MN, and let lines 'AC, AD, 
AS, AP, AG, be drawn in the plane 
BIN; aad let BAG be the acute profile 
angle, and BAG tiiie obtnse one : then 
BAG is the least, and BAG the greatest 
of an the angles which can be so formed. 

(1.) For let BAE be any other angle; 
about A in the plane MN describe 
die dide GGB; and from C in the 
profile plane draw CB perpendicular to 



Tb^^BC is perpendicular to the plane MN (prop, 32) ; and^heiioe Bfi is matsv 

' '- ' ' to ttie two 



than BC (prop, 28.) Consequently since the two sides AB, AC are equal 

AB, A£/but the base BE greater than the base BG, the angle BAE ia greater thaa 
BAG. The acute profile angle BAG> therefore tiie least angle. 

(2.) Again, since GG is the diameter of the circle GEG, it Is greater diaa fSaUb 
line £G ia the circle (Euc. tit. 15) : wherefore the line BQ is greater duui B9 
(frap. 28.) Whence, BA, A£ are equal to B A, AG, but the faass BG greater thali 
the base BE ; and the angle BAG is hence greater than BAE. The obuise profile 
angle BAG is therefore the greatest angle. 

(3.) Let AE be nearer than AP to the acute profile trace; then the ^ngle BAE 
will be less than BAF. 

For, Join BF. Then since the angle CAF ia greater than GAB, the subtending 
ehord FG is greater than FE ; or F is more remote from the perpendicular tha» 
E is. Whence BF is greater than BK Gonseqnently B A, A£ are equal to BA« 
AF, but the base BE leas than the base BF ; and hence the angle BAB ia leaa 
than BAF. 

f 4.) There can be drawn one, and ofily one, line in the plane MN, which shall 
BNkko an angle equal to BAE. 

For, make the aogle CAD equal to CAE, and join BD. 

Then, since the angle GAD is equal to CAE, tne chord CD is equal to 0£ ; aid 
hen^e the line BD to BF (prop, 28.) WfaerefiDre (Ac. L 8) the angle BAD tf 
equal to BAE. There can, hence, be one angle equal to any aeleeted a*gle BAE. 

tliere can be only one: for all the others on the side GEG of the plane QG ana 
either greater or less than BAB, as has been proved ; and it follows in the same waj^ 
that all those on the other side of QC are eidier greater or leas than BAD» and 
hence than BAE. 

(5.) Draw HAK perpendicular to GC in the pUme MN. Then, GG is the telw 
secuon of two planes MN, PQ, and H£ is drawn in one of the planes MN perpen-* 
dicular totjrG, it is perpendicular to the plane PQ; and hence to the Hne AB in 
that pUne» Whence one line can be drawn in Ae pUne MN perpendicular to AB. 

Thero can be but one: for then it would also be perpendicuhtf to PQ9 which ii 
impOHible (j^. 26*)^ To ba ccniumad.) 



84 



MR. BAOOB'b LKCTUaXB ON KLBCTAICZTY. 



Sir, — The tbundentorm which visited 
HI last night afforded an excellent oppor- 
tunity to those who delight in observing 
natttnd phenomena, and in admiring the 
miljestjr which pervades the works of the 
Creator. 

Since the Polytechnic Institation has 
been re-opened, some interesting lectures 
have been delivered there on the subject 
of thunderstorms, and I have no doubt 
that such of your electrical readers as 
are resident in London have already be- 
come acquainted with the novel effects 
which Mr. Baggs presents to his audience. 
But to your numerous country readers, 
who are dependent on secondary evi- 
dence, I think a short account of these 
valuable additions to science will be ac- 
ceptable, and it may excite a desire in all 
to push onwards in that hitherto unex- 
plored region which is now opened to 
our researches. 

The leading improvement which marks 
Mr. Baggs's mode of discharging Leyden 
phials when arranged in a battery, is one 
which I beUeve has been suggested long 
ago, but has certainly never l^en carried 
out in practice on such a scale as we 
may now witness in the lecture-room of 
thePolvtechnic. Electrical batteries are 
generally so constructed as to have all 
Uie interior coatinn of the jars connected 
to one end, and all the exterior coatings 
to the other end of the circuit 

Mr, Baffgs insulates each jar com- 
pletely, anof at the instant of discharge 
brings the interior of one jar to bear 
upon the exterior of the next, and so on 
in succession throughout the series. 

By this modification, the new battery 
is made analogous in its operation to the 
galvanic battery ; and the difference be- 
tween the ordinary Leyden batteries and 
those of Mr. Baggs is exactly that which 
would be observed between a galvanic 
trough where all the positive and all the 
negative plates are respectively united, 
and another on the customary cellular or 
repetition plan. 

n e have thus a new feature introduced 
into our manipulation of Franklin elec- 
trieity^the simultaneous change in posi- 
tion of each jar of the battery; and 
whilstitB first resulu enable theelectrician 
to exhibit a disruptive spark of great 
power, we can set no limitations to the 
exnectations we may indulge in from its 
tan development. 



The battery emploved by Mr. "^es^ 
consists of ten or twelve large jars, eacr. 
of which is supported horizontally on an 
insulating pedestal, which is capable of 
rotary motion about its vertical axis. 

These jars are arranged in a circle, 
and are charged separately by the steam 
electric-machine. The amount of elec- 
tricity imparted to each jar is regulated 
by an ingeniously contrived electrometer 
which answers the purpose of a safety- 
valve. 

I subjoin a description of this self- 
acting regulator, although I believe that 
it is not altogether new either in prin- 
ciple or construction. 

Fig. 1 represents a ground plan of a 
battery of this new form, the five jars of 
which are supposed to be separately 
charged. 

By means of a simple motion given to 
a system of rods connecting the pedestals 
of all the jars, the battery is brought 
into the position indicated in fig. 2 ; the 
rotation of each having been m the di- 
rection of the arrow. It will be observed 
that the inner surface knob of each jar 
is now within "striking'' distance of 
the outer surface of the next succeeding, 
and by this means the accumulated force 
of the whole battery discharges all the 
lars at once, and the spark restoring equi- 
librium passes through the space A B, 
which in Mr. Baggs's battery is extended 
to about three feet ! • 

Fig. 8 represents the electrodynamic 
regulator referred to above. 

A and B are two stationary metallic 
balls, the former of which is connected 
with the earth, the latter with the jar 
about to be charged. 

The ball C is borne at the end of a 
metal balance-rod R, moving verticallT 
about the fulcrum P, and is weighted at W 
according to the intended maximum in- 
tensity of the charge. The electricity 
is transmitted from the machine by Uie 
wu-e P, along the rod, and through the 
bails C and B to the jar. 

The balls C and B being affected with 
electricity of the same sign, will repel 
each other, and when the repulsive force 
becomes strong enouffh to separate them, 
the rod will assume the position indicated 
by the dotted lines, uutil the ball C coming 
within "striking" distance of A, the sur* 
plus electricity will pass off to the earth. 



MR. BAOOB^S LitCTURES ON ELECTRICITY. 



85 



At the risk of ilndnly protractiog this 
eommiuiication I shall add a few of Mr. 
BaggB*s observations on thunder and light- 

Ding. 

The prolonged roar of a thunder peal, 
so unlike the snarp report of an ordinary 
electric discharge, is generally attributed 
to the reverberation of the first sound by 
surrounding objects ; but thunder heard 
at sea or on a level plain, cannot owe its 
duration to such succession of echoes. 

Mr. Bagffs explains this difficulty, as 
vrell as the devious aigsag course of light- 
ning, by the following Uieory : 

The clouds consist of strata or aggre- 
gations of vapour, and each mass includes 
a number or small particles of vapour. 
Let fig. 4 represent a number of these 
masses and small particles. Then any 
one particle, A for instance, will be simi- 
larly charged throughout, but the ex- 
teriors of all will by induction be charged 
dissimilarly. The spark will pass be- 
tween two bodies similarly charged by 
the common tangent, and between two 
dissimilarly charged along the common 
nonnal. 

Hence there will be a succession of 
cumulative discharges, forming a flash, 
whenever the masses of charged vapour 
are brought into such a position as to 
ooDsist of groups arranged as are the jars 
in ^, 2. 

Some of your readers mav have 
noticed as I have done that the ngure of 
a fiash of lightning does not always ap- 
pear to be product on the retina of the 
eye with all its parts apparent simulta- 
neously. Often it seems to resemble a 
swift meteor, and one extremity of the 
light disappears whilst the other is pro- 
jected farther. This is intelligible 
enough if we consider each flash to con- 
sist of innumerable small discharges 
between contiguous masses. The direc- 
tion of its course will then be influenced 
by the relative positions and electrical 
aflfections of the various masses of vapour, 
and the duration will depend on the rapid 
aeeumulationin each mass, of an amount 
of electricity which finally (but often not 
nntil after an appreciable time) exceeds 
what can be sustained by the particle or 
mass under the circumstances. This 
distinction between one spark and a flash 
of continttotts discharges is exceedingly 
important. It was beautifully illustrated 
by Faraday in one of his late lectures, 
wliere the electric current was so retarded 



Fig. 1. 






Fig. 2. 




86 



SBIV-ACTING SLUJCBSi 



and wire-drawn by comoelUng it to tra- 
verse an imperfect conaucting medium, 
as to produce effects, such as firing gun- 
powder, necessarily requiring an appre- 
ciable duration of the heating power 
generated by its passage. 

In conclusion, I would beg leave to 
propose flat cells as a convenient form for 
the jars of the new battery. They should 
be broad enough to admit the hand for 
coating with tinfoil, and large enough to 
render the separate charging of them not 
too troublesome. 

Yours, &c., 

John MAcGaiooR. 

24, Idoooln'l-Illli Fielda, July 15, 1848. 



SSLV-AOmfO SLUICES. 

Sir, — On examining the embankments 
which have been constructed throughout 
the united kingdom for the reclamation 
of slob lands from the tidal waters of 
the sea, two descriptions of self-acting 
sluices, at least, may be observed differ- 
ing in no other particular but in the 
length of the arms by whioh they hang 
suspended from the axle. 

Fig. 1. 




Fig. 1 of the accompanying sketches 
shows one of these sluices whose line of 
suspension is immediately above the 
top of the sluice ; and fig. 2, one which 
hangs by long rigid arms from a line at 
least 10 feet above the top of the sluice. 
You are aware that the use of these 
sluices is to exclude the sea water at 
high tide ; and at a particular state of the 
ebo, the pressure of the fresh waters 
within the embankment opens the sluices, 
and thus the fiood waters of the country 
escape through the tunnels from the re- 
claimed lands to the sea. 

To ensure the most effective system of 
drainage from more rich low lands, which 
otherwise would become saturated and 
materially damaged, the efficiency of dis- 



^-m 



Pig. 2. 

:8^ 



charge through the sluices, which caa 
act but a limited time during each tide, 
is of the utmost importance ; and as 
each of the sluice forms above referred 
to has been adopted in important situa- 
tions by engineers of unquestionable ex- 
perience and ability, the following in- 
vestigation of the mechanical laws whidi 
govern their action, showing theefllciency 
of discharge in each case, may not 1)0 
altogether without interest to some of 
your readers. 

Let P C (fig. 3) be any position of the 
lone armed sluice, making with the ver- 
tical B C the angle B C P- 9. The 
point P is held in equilibrium by three 
lorces; viz., the force of the water acting 
in the direction Q P, the weight of the 
sluice and arms acting in Pfi, and the 
tension of the rigid body reacted at the 
point C. 

Eesolving the forrce, PR, into the two 
equivalents, QP, RQ, respectively per- 
pendicular and parallel to PC, the latter 
is destroyed by the re- action at C, ana 
the remaining e(^uivalent, QR, being the 
tangential force, is the only one opposed 
to me direct action of the fluid. 

Take F, the centre of pressure of the 
fluid, and G the centre of gratity of th^ 



SILF^ACTIFO fLUICSB. 
Kg. 3. 



87 




mass of the sluice and arms together ; 
put PF-Z, PG-Z' and PC=a. Then 
FC« (a - z) and GC =- (a - z) : also put 
PR» W->the whole weight of the mass* 

Now the angle PRQ is obvioushr equal 
to PCB«e, and /. W. sin. e=PQ*-Un- 
gential force ; and if P represent the 
force of the water upon the sluiee, we 
have 

P.(a- 2) =W. 810.6(0-20 
an expression for the conditions of eaui- 
librium, supposing the system placea in 
air. 

Suppose the whole now immersed in 
water, as the sluices must be ; the force 
of buoyancy upon the material would at 
once destroy the equilibrium exhibited 
above, and therefore this force must 
occupy a place in the equation. Putting 
M <= the mass of the sluice immersed, 
^«the distance of its centre of gravity 
from the centre of motion C, and n— 
the specific weight of water. Then} 
P.(« -a)-ii». n. tf. sin. a=W. sin. B (fl-«9» 
so t!hat the conditions pf e^uilibiium m 



^" r- ^^^\4=^.i^Z^^^-^^^ 



water between the resultant of the 
weight of the sluice and that of the 
water, are generally, 

W,(fl-20 +«.«.<' 

Bv an exactly similar process we should 
find for the sluice with the short arms 

(6-^) 
in which w\ b, «*, cf, and eT, represent in 
this case quantities respectively similar 
to those represented by w^ a, s^, d, and 
e in the first case. Equating therefore 
these two values of P, we bave 

Bin. e' W. (o-g^)-fm.».d (b-z) 
rinTe ■w.'(6-4r') + m.n.d'* («-2)' 
which gives the ratio of the angular 
openings of the sluices due to a given 
pressure, P, and therefore a direct com- 
parison of the efficiency of discharge in 
each case. 

From the last equation it is manifest 
that as the total weight of the short 



88 8BL7-ACTINO SLUICES. 

anned sluice most \>e less than that widi reader and ordinary aritfamedoian. The 

the long arms, the ratio of , application, therefore, of the results ahoye 

sin. obtained to a pardcular case, in which I 

j^ ' have accurately ascertained die nnmbera 

must be always greater than the angular ^ ^' ,,»,,, ,w 

opening of the long one, die pressure , In the case to which I allude W-506 
being die same in each case. lbs-» C« --^ ) = ^^ inches, m. n. «266 Iba., 

The preceding investigation is abun- rf-120 inches, and (ft-^)-50 inches, 
dantlysimple and easy of comprehension; Also, W'-393lb8. (i-«')-36 mches, 
but algebraic formute, however simple ^''-^l inches, and (a-z)-128 inches, 
in their nature, are too often viewed in Subsdtudng these values in the eqna- 
an unfavourable light by the general don, we have 

sin g^ _ 506x96x50«f(266xl20) _| 3^^^ 
sin 393 X 36 X 128-1- (266 x 41) * ' 
the rado of the angular openings in dus pardcular case. 

Now, assuming certain angular openings for the short-armed sluice, let us see 
what would be the openings due to the long sluice for the same pressure. 

G'^5'' log. dn. »8.940296 

1.3506 log.-0.130507 

8.809789 0.3'' 42^ 

0'-15*»- 9.412996 

1.3506 0.130507 

9.282489 »ir 3' 

«r=.30° 9.698970 

1.3506 0.130507 

9^568463=21° 44' 

9^-45 9.849485 

1.3506 0.130507 

9.718978 -3r 35' 

«'-60 9.937531 

1.3506 0.130507 

9.807024-39'' 63' 

0^-90 (horizontal) 10.000000 
1.3506 0.130507 

9.869493-47'' 46' 

Here, then, are the practical deductions from the preceding investigation. — ^The 
force capable of opening the long-armed sluice, 

3*" 42' - will open the ihort Bloioe 5<>. 

11° 3' - 15°. 

21° 14'— 30°. 

31° 35' - 45°. 

39° 53 - 60°. 

47° 46 - 90° (horizontal.) 

There are other disadvantages besides it apparent that such a construction 
those above exhibited— the inevitable shoula never have been adopted, 
resdt of the long arms; but what has T. Smith, 

been shown is perhaps enough to make Bridf^town, Wexlbzd,/ttnt is.ms. 



89 



TBB G&MRAM PROnnOMBIPS. 
Third Notio*. 



We have been induced to look a little. 
more closely Into the history of the 
Gresham College (instead of trusting to 
ovr] memory of former readings upon a 
aubjeet which, at that time, only in- 
terested us from its gross maWersation) 
dnce the present yacancy in the geo- 
meCry-professoFship has come to our 
kntywledge. Of course, we first refer* 
red to old Ward, who, in his *' Lives 
of the Professors of Gresham College,*' 
bas giyen the principal documents res- 
pecting its early history. We haye, 
therefore, selected all thos^ parts of Sir 
Thomas Gresham's will which relate to 
his college, and extracts from a descrip- 
tion of the fundamental constitution of 
it, as detailed in the tripartite deed be- 
tween the Corporation, the Mercers' 
Company, and the Gresham professors 
In 1597. We haye not room this week 
to discuss this singular document, or 
compare it with the will : still less can 
we recount the subsequent scandalous 
peryersions of this trust, effected by the 
act of Fisrltament in 1768 (8 Geo, iii. cap, 
23,) by which the college has been vir- 
tnally annihilated. It is to be lamented that 
this college did not come under the scru- 
tiny of £ord Brougham's Committee, in 
1817-18. The glaring enormity of its 
misappropriation would haye stood out 
in bold relief even against the infamous 
case of " Spittle and mere,^' — one of the 
w<»st cases that has ever found its way into 
the public records I We shall return to the 
subject, and sift it to the yery bottom. 

Sir Thomas Gresham, as we haye 
said, was educated at Cambridge, under 
Dr. Cains, himself the co-founder with 
Dr. Gonyille, of the college which bears 
their joint names. There was hence the 
idea of a foundation presented to his 
mind in early life ; and there was preva- 
lent in Cambridge a belief that he in- 
tended to add another college to that 
nniyersity. Indeed, there was addressed 
to him, by the public orator of that day, 
a fulsome letter, by order of the caput, 
to remind him of his " promise." What 
answer was given is, however, not known ; 
but it is clear that the merchant-Maece- 
nas had long, ere that period, made up 
his mind. He had built for himself a 
" BfansloD House" between Bishopsgate- 
street and his Royal Exchange, fvhich 



was quite as remarkable for its extent as 
for its magnificence ; the plan of which 
was that of a collegiate building, adapted 
to form "lodgings** for the professors, 
lecture-rooms, laboratories, and a noble 
gallery fitted for use on all public occa- 
sions. This was begun about 1560 
even during the life of his only son, 
which shows how fully he had de- 
termined upon the foundation of his> 
college. In 1575 he made his will — 
(written entirely with his own hand) — 
in which he endowed this college with 
ample funds, chargeable upon certain of 
his estates, amongst them the Royal 
Exchange ; and left the Corporation of 
London and the Mercers' Company joint 
trustees. There were first appointed in 
one part of the will the four professor- 
ships, viz., of "divinitye, astronomy, 
musicke, and geometry," with "salla- 
ries andstipendes" each "of fifty pound 
of lawfull money of England yerely." 
In a later part he adds the three profes- 
sors of **lawe, phissicke, and rhetoricke," 
to each of whom he allots the same 
•* stipende." Further on still, we find it 
ordained that the said trustees "shall 
permitte said seaven persons, by them 
from tyme to tyme to be elected and 
appointed in manner and forme aforesaid, 
meete and sufficiently learned to reade 
die said seaven lectures, to have the 
occupation of all my said mansion house, 
gardeins, and of all other the appurte- 
naunces, for them and every of them 
there to inhabite, study, and Aaylie to 
read the said several lectures. And my 
will is, that none shall be chossen to 
retide any of the said lectures so long as 
he shall be married, nor be sufiered to 
reade any of the said lectures after he 
shall be married, neither shall receive 
any fee or stipend appointed for readinge 
the said lectures.'^ This is all that 
occurs in the will relating to the endow- 
ment of, and conditions attached to, the 
Gresham professorships. 

The statute of mortmain rendered it 
necessary that license should be obtained 
for the appropriation of his estates to 
this purpose within a certain period. 
He therefore adds, " that I doe require 
and charge the said corporations and 
governors thereof, with circumspect dili- 
gence and without longe delay, to procure 



90 



THE GRB8HA1C PROFESSORSHIPS. 



and see to be done and obteyned, ss they 
will answer for the same before AU 
mighty e God. For if they, or any of 
them, should neglecte the obteyning of 
8uch lyssaunce or warrante, which I trust 
cannot be difficult (nor so chargable, 
but that the overplus of my rentes and 
proffittes of the premisses herein before 
to them disposed will soon recompence 
the same,) because to so good purpose in 
the common wealth no prince nor coun- 
cil in any age will deny or defeate the 
same (and if conveniently by my will or 
other conveyance I mignt assure it, I 
would not leave it to be done after my 
death) ; then shall the same revert to my 
right heires ; whereas I do mesne the 
same for the common weale. And then 
the defaulte thereof shall be to the re- 
proach and condempnation of the said 
corporation afore God.'* 

The entire will In ^detail is given by 
Ward in his **Livesof the Professors 
of Gresham College," (fol. 1740), but 
as the book is large and not very com- 
mon, we have thought it advisable to ex- 
tract all that relates in the most remote 
degree to the college, in order that our 
readers may see Sir Thomas Gresham 'a 
earnestness in the cause of learning, and 
the only restrictions which he made. 

Some opposition to the will was made 
by Lady Gresham, but the trustees ob- 
tained an Act of Parliament which set 
the matter at rest, and they came into 
possession in 1596; and in 1614, a 
patent from the Crown was obtained ** to 
hold them for ever upon the terms ex- 
presse<yn the will of the donor,". (Ward, 
p. 32,) m conformity with the will of 
the founder. 

An agreement tripartite between the 
Corporation, the Mercers' Company, 
and the professors, bearing date January 
16, 1597, prescribes the objects of the 
college and the manner of lecturing. 
This very curious document is printed 
at length by Ward in his preface ; but 
it would be too long for extract into 
our pages. We can only give ^ few 
passages which more immediately bear 
upon our present object 

The first paragraph recites the *' chief 
care" of the trustees, " that the last will 
and testament of the said Sir Thomas 
Gresham touching his said mansion house, 
and the lectures there to be read, should 
be in aQ things truly performed accord- 
ing to the intent thereof* ; and then 



proceeds to put ''the seven persons 
already elected and appointed, &c., being 
meet and sufficiently learned to read the 
seven lectures," into possession of "all 
the said mansion house, gardens, and of 
all the other appurtenances, for them, 
and every of them, there to inhabit, 
study , and daily read the said several 
lectures mentioned in the said will and 
testament of the said Sir Thos. Gressham, 
according to the true intent thereof ^ 

The second paragraph prescribes that 
[besides the ordinary daily lectures? 
This is not very clear from the docu- 
ment] there shall Be ** certain several 
solemn lectures, with great care and dili- 
gence to be performed, by every of the 
said lecturers in their several arts aod 
sciences, at the several set days and 
times ;" and the periods are fixed in tbe 
third and future paragraphs, 'the reasons 
for this are recited to be, "the credit qf 
the place, the more increase of learning^ 
and the greater honour of the founder ** 

The fourth paragraph fixes the college- 
year at four terms, nearly corresponding 
with the common law terms; and the 
fifth we give entire : 

" And forasmuch as the publick read- 
ing of the said lectures Is to be per- 
formed in that manner, as may most 
tend to the glory of God, and tne com^ 
tnon benefit qf the people of this city, 

WHICH WS DOUBT NOT TO BE THE PBIN- 
CIPAL ENDS OF THB SAID FOUKDEB IN 
ORDAINING THE SAID LECTDBES ; and 

for that the greatest part of the inhabi- 
tants within the city understand not the 
Latin tongue, whereby the said lectures 
may become solitary in a short time if they 
be delivered in the Latin tongue only; 
and yet withal it is very likely that divers 
strangers of foreign countries, who re- 
sort thither, and understand not the 
English tongue, will ereatly desire to 
hear the reading of the said lectures, 
whereby the memory of the said founder 
in the erecting of the said college for the 
increase of learninff may be divulged, 
to the good ensample of foreign nations, 
and the honour and credit of this hon- 
ourable city : it is thought meet, that the 
said solemn lectures be applied to the best 
benefit and contentation of the auditors 
of both sorts." 

It is little likely that " divers strangers 
of foreign countries " would be resident 
in London at that time, except for com- 
mercial or semi-diplomatic purposes* 



THfi fiKEMkH PtOlP«M6ft8filPB. 



SI 



The latter ekaa iben held a very amM- 
gtioos poeition (see ** Dee, John," Peniiy 
Cye.lopedta,) which it would not hate 
been pditieal wisdom on the part of 'the 
citiiens of London to harbour, succour, 
or encourage ; " and the mere courtiers 
did not form a class likely to be interested 
hi any collegiate learning. The " divers 
strangers" who came to England in 
eonfonnity with ** the wont of the wan- 
dering pilgrims of learning*' of preced- 
ing times to travel everywhere^ would go 
to Oxfbrd generally (as the then most 
eelehrated English nnf versity,) and occa- 
sionally to Cambridge, and not trouble 
tbemaelTea with a new college without 
European fkme, and only, indeed, Jost 
eommeneing its existence. There are 
hence only two ways left us of looking at 
the ordination of this paragraph. 

The first is, — that the trustees reallv 
intended to make the college of sued 
efSciency, learning, and reputation, that 
it should attract learned foreigners to 
its foeturea and exerotses— ;/&r ihe »ake 
of $tH€fy, and the acquisition of know- 
Udge wkidi eould be nowhere else oh- 
tained. If, however, this had been the 
ease, how are we to account for the spe- 
cial character, and the attempt at render- 
ing iSbit lectures adapted to the capacitv 
of the London oitisens of that day, which 
nms throagh the prescriptions for the 
law, physic, and dignity lectures ? This 
hypMDtheaii must, therefore, be abau- 
doned. 

The second is,— that the trustees con- 
ildered the <* Latin tongue" to be the 
vemacalar language of the merchants of 
IBbaropel Beyond <*the service of the 
maaa," it was as little known to the 
merchants of Holland, and Germany, 
and Italy, as it was to the English mer- 
ehant and London dtiaen. The assump- 
tion waa a dmple absurdity--as much so 
tlien aa It is now. 

We oan otily look tipon this euphuism 
(to ttse a term of that neriod,) and, in- 
deed, many o^ the regulations contained 
te the entire document, as the result of 
a total miaoonception of^ the magnificent 
vlewt of Sir Thomas Gresham, and as 
an attempt to give " a learned air" to 
the vulgar and common -place system of 
lecture which the trustees had, in their 
" practical wisdom,'' been pleased to or- 
dun Instead. Gao anything, for instance, 
be aoQceived so absurd as the prescrip- 
liona for the leeturea on astronomy and 



^ometry, which are given a little fur- 
ther on r Yet even these, paltry as they 
are in reference to the science of this 
day, and not very exalted even in 1597, 
have not been adhered to either in their 
letter or their spirit. Even on the very 
foundation, the will and testament of the 
founder were perverted from the " true 
intent thereof.^* We cannot, then, much 
wonder at subsequent perversions, when 
we look at the status and wisdom of the 
trustees who have represented the City 
and the Mercers' Company through the 
several ages that have intervened. 

The remaining paragraphs prescribe 
the davs and hours of each week of each 
term tne lectures shall be read, and lay 
down somewhat stringent regulations as 
to the manner of treating some of them. 
The general rule for time m the Latin lec- 
ture was from eight to nine, and the Eng- 
lish f^om two to three ; except the mus^, 
which is to be wholly in English (a dis- 
pensation to Dr. John Bull, who was 
" recommended by the Queen's moat 
Excellent Majesty, ne being not able to 
speak Latin, ) between tne hours of 
three and four on Thursdays and Satur- 
days. We take them in the order of the 
" agreement tripartite." 

1. The Solemn Divinity Lectures 
(Wednesday) were to be wholly contro- 
versial, not '' mingled with exhortations, 
being improper for a public lecture." 
This rule was made by tne bishops ; and 
It closes, ** provided always, that he [the 
lecturer] shall not impugn any doctrine, 
order, rite> or ceremonv, received and 
allowed in the Church of England.^ 

2. The Solemn Law Lectures (Tues- 
day) are a little varied from the general 
scheme, inasmuch as they are to be 
read "for three quarters of an hour 
in the Latin tongue, and for the other 
quarter in the English tongue, which 
shall be a brief collection or recapitula- 
tion of that which was read in the Latin 
of the said lecture.*' This appears to be 
designed as a series of popular lectures 
for mercantile men ; and seventy -sia 
different heads, upon which the lecturer 
is expected to afibrd information, are 
actually laid downl The "university 
manner" of reading this lecture is for- 
mally set aside : which (on the law- 
principle that "the exception proves the 
rules") seems to Imply that the other 
lectures were designed to be read "after 
the manner of the university." 



92 



THE ORB8HAV PB0FESSOBSHIP8. 



3. The Solemn Physic Lectures (Mon- 
day) are prescribed somewhat oddly : 
" and forasmuch as the greatest part of 
the auditory is like to be of such citf- 
zens and others, as Iiave small knowledge 
or none at all in the Latin iongue, and 
for that every man for his wealth's sake 
will desire to have some knowledge in 
the art of physick ; it is thought good 
that the first lecture be read in the Latin 
and the second in the English tongue." 
Most people would have thought the very 
reason offered by the Trustees a valid 
one for rendering the lecture entirely in 
English ! The course briefly prescribed 
was however a good and suitable one for 
the times and the purpose. We give the 
next entire. 

4. ** The Solemn Lectures ofAsiro^ 
nomy and Geometry are to be made in 
like manner, viz., either of the said lec« 
tares twice every week, on Friday Astro- 
nomy, on Thursday Geometry, between 
the hours of eight and nine in the fore- 
noon, and two and three in the afternoon ; 
whereof the lectures in the forenoon to be 
in Latin, and the lectures in the aflernoon 
to be in English. Touching the matter 
of the said solemn lectures, the Geome- 
trician is to be read as folio weth, viz., 
every Trinity term arithmetique^ in 
Michaelmas and Hilary terms theoretical 
geometry, in Easter term practical geo- 
metry. The Astronomy reader is to read 
in his solemn lectures, first, the princi- 
ples of the sphere^ and the theorigues 
of the planets, and the use of the astro- 
labe and stofy and other common instru- 
ments for the capacity of mariners ; 
which being read and opened, he shall 
apply them to use, by reaoing geography 
and the art of navigation, in some one 
term of every year." 

5. The Solemn Rhetoric Lecture 
(Saturday) b merely prescribed as to 
time and language. 

6. The Solemn Musick Lecture is to 
be delivered, " the theorique part for half 
an hour or thereabout, and the practique 
by concent [concert ? J of voice or of in- 
struments for the rest of the hour; 
whereof the first lecture to be in the 
Latin tongue, and the second in the 
English tongue." The dispensation be- 
fore alluded to as granted to Dr. John 
Bull, appears to have become perpetual ; 
and, indeed, though a music lecture in 
<' that soft bastard Latin,'* (as Byron calls 
the Italian) might be very agreeable, it 



certainly would sound somewhat odd in 
the barbarous and bald old Latin of the 
schools, and not less so in the still more 
barbarous Latin of modem times. A 
musician's Latin would be a curiosity in 
its way. 

The " Ordinances and afirreemeots 
tripartite " close with the following bit 
of antique dandyism : 

** Further, for more order and com- 
liness sake, it is thought meet, that the 
said lecturers shall read their lectures IH 
THEIR HoonSt according to their degrees 
in the universities^ in such sort as they 
should there read the same lectures.*' 

None, therefore, by this decree, but 
members of the universities are eligible 
to these appointments. There were sa- 
pient and prescient legislators in those 
times ; though, in many respects, there 
are traits of wisdom in this document 
that transcend even the conception of 
our modern city legislators. Still, it 
never entered into the imaginations of 
even the better race of city men,tbatany 
science could be cultivated effectively 
beyond the walls of a college and the 
ma^ic circle of a university. Least of 
all did they dream that, within two cen* 
turies, the whole weight of the geome- 
trical reputation of England should fall 
upon the shoulders of men who had not 
only never seen a university, but who 
were almost unknown, and where known, 
despised by the members of both univer- 
sities. The last quarter of a century 
(and especially the last few years) have 
somewhat modified this relation ; but 
yet, after mature deliberation (though 
we hazarded the remark a fortnight ago 
upon the impressions that had been made 
upon us by the mere recollections that 
occurred at the moment,) we are bold to 
say, that to the present hour, Mr. Potts 
is the only man %n either university who 
is NOV/ fairly before the world with any 
legitimate claims to be considered as the 
JSnglish representative of the geometry 
school of the universities. Let the 
Gresham Committee (and especially the 
great corrector of non-corporate abuses^ 
Sir Peter Laurie) look to it. He is am- 
bitious of a name in civic and public 
history : he has now a chance — ^whether 
he promote the views of the only qna- 
lifled university candidate that offers, 
or seek still further than university 
production, is a matter of small impor- 
tance. Let him only do his duty, end 



THt OR^SHAlf PROFBl^SOR^filiE»S« 



93: 



render these offices somediiiig different 
from the eioeeures they have been, and 
he will eara and obtain the gratitude of 
poBterity. We will reckon on bim, and 
may aucceaa attend his efforts to cleanse 
his own eivic Augean stable ! 

What are the present and the late 
LcNrd Mayors about P Are tbey, too, 
who should ffuide the ''herd" whose 
names we save last week, so little alive 
to the social state of the human mind in 
England, as to still take these abuses as 
a matter of course ? Are they, too, so 
Wxad as to not perceive that the days of 
patronage and perversion are gone by ? 
We pray them to defer this election, 
rather than elect an unfit man to carry 
oat the real designs of the founder. 
Let them remember that, by " Geo- 
metry," Sir Thomas ChesTuim meant 
Geombtbt; and that neither acade- 
mic naoBEES nor citt iNFLUENCRt^tM 
the trustees imply what Sir Thomas 
Gresham meant bv that word. Let 
tiiem also look at his emphatic objur- 
gation, and pause, ere they also commit 
themselves to public obloquy. If they 
be not satisfied with the best can- 
didate that offers himself (though there 
is no real reason why they should not 
be) let them look still further. With 
the general impression respecting city 
and corporate influence (and especially 
with the restrictions quoted which ex- 
cludes non-academic men) the Gresham 
Committee cannot command the highest 
possible talent and fitness in any depart- 
ment — except by mere accident. We only 
intreat the Gresham Committee, if they 
wUl not take the university candidate, 
by far the most fitted for the office, to 
panse ere they decide — to learn what 
geometry reallv is — to ascertain, as well 
as they can, who really are the eminent 
geometers of England — to select the 
highest — and offer him the appointment. 
No one of the many whom we could 
name, who are not of the university, 
will, we have the fullest assurance, offer 
themselves for that appointment. We 
have, however, no wish to disturb the 
regulation implied in the closing para- 
graph quoted above of the '* tripartite *' 
agreement. We suppose, however, that 
whatever difficulties else may stand in 
the way of non-academic men, the mat- 
ter of the **hood" would form an insu- 
perable barrier to their selection by the 
aristocratic Gresham Trustees. How- 
ever, only let justice be done to ability, 



and justice to the public, and mos t 
of all justice to the will and intentions of 
Sir Thomas Gresham :— and then we 
shall be satisfied. 

KOBBaTSON's PATaNT IMPaOVaMBNTS IK 
THB MAKT7FA0TURB OP TBXTILB FA- 

BBics, STOrrs, and tissubs, and or 

CBBTAIN NBW PB0DUCT9 OBTAIN BD BT 
THB AID OF SUCH IMPBOVBMBNTS. COM- 
MUNICATBD FaOM ABBOAD. « 

[Patent dated January 19, 1848. SpeciflcatioD 
enroUed July 19, 1848.] 

Specifieatum, 
Whereas brocaded stnffii, in which the 
figures or desi^s are introduced in the 
process of weaving, possess an acknowledged 
aaperiority over scuface-printed goods, lopk 
much better, and bring a higher price! but 
they are open to this objection, that thcr 
mode in which they are manufactured ad- 
mits but of little variety in the figures, and 
is a great obstacle to freedom of design r 
besides being exceedingly complicated and 
difficult. The Jacquard loom, in which 
such stuffs are woven, requires as many dis- 
tinct wefts as there are colours in the design ; 
an immense number also of cards ; and most 
elaborate ingenuity in the mounting. The 
more complex the design, the more skilful 
must be the workman ; and be the workman 
ever so skilful, he can at best become the 
master of but a small number of patterns. 
Now, the nature or object of the said inven- 
tion consists in giving to the patterns or 
designs of surface- printed goods the same 
clearness and distinctness, and the same 
high finish which have been hitherto peculiar 
to brocades ; and in combining at the same 
time with this successful imitation of bro- 
cade work, that economy of production, and 
that power of varying the designs at pleasure 
which belongs to surface-printing alone. 
And the manner in which the said object is 
effected is as follows : 

Firsts The colours used in this improved 
mode of surface-printuHg are prepared in a 
different way from what is usual. In general, 
they are not ground sufficiently fine, the con- 
sequence of which is, that they neither flow 
freely and equally, nor penetrate the fibres of 
the goods thoroughly ; on some parts they 
make but a faint impression, while on others 
they rest in spotty superficial masses ; and 
hence a prevailing want not only of clearness 
and continuity in the lines of the figures, but 
of fixity in large portions of the colours. To 
remedy these evils, the author of the present 
invention grinds the metallic oxides, the lacs, 
and other materials from which the colours 
are derived, to as impalpable a state as is 
practicable by the grinding-mill in ordinary 
use ; employing no new machinery for the 
purpose, but applying the old more perse* 



M 



WBSK&T USX OV KBW 9K0USH MTBNT8. 



▼eringly and more carefnlly Uian heretofore. 
The colouring materielB are then mixed with 
any of the thick fatty oils, in the proportion 
of abont one-third part of the oil to two- 
third parts of the colonring material ; and 
great care also is taken to make tibis mixtare 
as intimate and complete as may be. The 
colours so prepared are applied to the en- 
graTcd surfaces by rollers, in the nsual way. 

Second. Tp obtain plates which will yield 
impressions of the required Tivadty^ the 
following method is adopted :-r-A Tei7 thin 
plate of copper (de deux h troU millimetre* 
d*epait$ew*) is well cleaned and polished, and 
the designer draws his pattern upon it The 
pattern is then re-drawn {dkuiquf) ; that is 
to say, the plate is cut through and through 
in those parts oovered by the lines oC the 
designer. And this done, the plate is at- 
tached, by soldering or riveting, to a foun- 
dation-block, in order that it may be printed 
from. In this way, an engrared or printing 
surface (in intaglio) is obtained, in which 
all the lines are not only much deeper than 
usual, but all perfectly perpendicular and 
square— that is to say, all at right angles 
with the surface, and as deep as they are 
broad ; and obtained, too, at an expense 
much leas than such work would cost if per- 
formed by any other known means. 

Goods printed from such plates, and with 
colours carefully prepared in the way before 
described, are difficult to distinguish from 
the best brocades. The colours penetrate 
the fibres so completely, and the figures aro 
so distinct and clear, that then is no neces- 
sity, as usual, for subjecting them either to 
steaming or to mordants, or to river washing, 
in order to fix and bring out the colours. 

iistaaa. bbown and &sdpath's poeta- 

BLB smiths' rOROB. 

Experiments were parried on in the black- 
smiths* shop, at the Factory, Woolwich 
Dockyard, on Saturday and Monday last, 
before Mr. Lang, master shipwright, and 
Mr. Atherton, chief* engineer, to test two 
portable smiths' forges, or heating appara- 
tus, submitted by Messrs. Brown and Red- 
patit. They aro both on the same principle, 
only one is worked by hand, and the other 
by the foot, to allow the workman to use 
both hands in turning the iron in the fire, 
and are intended as substitutes for the cum- 
brous and ineffieieDt forges at present used 
by the engineers, smiths, and armourers in 
the Royal Navy. The leather and wood of 
the common bellows being so liable to injury 
from insects and other causes in tropical 
cliosatesj the forges made by Brown and 
Redpath are wholly of iron, and so com- 
pact that when folded vip for stowing away, 

* From No. 14 to 20 Biimiogham Bhe«t metal 
gaufo. 



they do not ooeapj a sptoe of tlnwe isat rix 
inches by two Ibet six inehesy and eiglit 
inches thick. Hie blast is prodnoed by an 
eccentric fan, thirteen inches hi diamefcert 
with three blades, which revolves with great 
rapidity by means of an endless gnt-baad 
and crank-handle, making upwards of 2,000 
revolutions per minute, and producing *> 
more powerful blast than can be obtained by 
the common forges. The experiments were 
conducted by Mr. Chaplin, engineer to the 
firm, under whose superintendence the ma« 
chines were oonstructed. He faitroduoed 
pieoes of iron li Inches in diaonler into tbe 
fires produoed by the forges, and in torn 
minutes the iron was brought to a good 
welding heat in the small one, and in S^ 
minutes in one rather larger» set in motion 
by the foot. A piece of iron joi the ssnaa 
dimensions was put into one of the fires pro- 
duced by the engine-blast in the blacksmitha' 
shop, and it required 3i minutes to bring it 
to a welding heat — exactly the same time 
as that required by the portable forge, show- 
ing a power of producing sufficient heat to 
enable engineers in charge of engines at sea 
to cast or repair many parts of the works 
which, without such aid, would require the 
return of the vessel to port to have them 
effeeted.^JI/onitii^ Chronicle, 

Tks did rtnder9d bg Meehania to AgHeMUmn,-^ 
At the first Exhibition of the Royal Asricultuxml 
Society In 1839, which took place at Oxfbid, thei« 
were but S3 implements exhlblt«d. The number 
increased rapidly every year, till in 1644 it reached 
948. During the two following years there was a 
falling off in the number of exhibitors -, bat since 
then there has been "feuch a rerival of the spirit oC 
mechauical competition that the number of artidea 
exhibited in 1847 at Northampton was 1,321, and 
this year, at York, no less than 1.508. In thaM 
numbers, however, there are inoluded maa7 old aa 
well as new machines. 



WKBKLT LIST OF NEW BNOLI8H PATENTS. 

William Swain, of Pembridge, Hereford, Brick- 
maker, for certain improvements in kflns for 
burning bricks, tiles, and other eartham subataneea. 
July 18; six months. 

Jean Louis Lemanaude, of SO, Passage Jonffiroy, 
Paris, Jeweller, for a new process of applying or 
fixing letters of metal upon glaas, marble, wood, 
and other substances. July 18; two months. 

Charles Purnell, of Liverpool, clockmaker, for 
certain improved apparatus to be applied to timber- 
loaded and other vessels laden with materials, the 
specific gravity of which la lighter than wat«r, 
preventing the necessity of abandoning them at 
sea, by ridding them of the superincumbent water, 
and enabling them thereby to cariy saiL July IS; 
six months. 

William Edward Newton, of Chancery-Une, Mid- 
dlesex, for certain improvements in machinery foe 
letter-press printing. July 18; six months. 

Joseph Stonson, of Northampton, engineer, for 
improvements in steam engines and boilers; parta 
of which improvements are also applicable to other 
motive machinery. July 18; six months. 

Joham Arnold Stefokamp, of Laieeater-atreet, 
Leicester-square, Middlesex, gentiemas, for im- 
provements in the manufkctoie of sugar ftom the 
can*. July 18; slzmontba. 



VBBXLT LIST Ot BMiaNS VOE' AKTICLS4 OV UTILITY RBOTSTBMP* 
! IMmot No. in 

I EefUtra-theRe- 

I ttoQ. gUt«r. Proprietors' Names. Addreiaes. Subjects of Designs, 

I Jal7 U 1409 John Edmond Smith ft 

Co ^.^.^^.^,^^» LAwrAice-lane, London... ....^^ Shirt collar. 

Charles Warren Birmingham...... Fastener for brooch. 

Richard Clark andl West Strand, and YorMar-\ Press and onllondci for vege- 
Thomas Restell .../ race, CambeiweU ....^....^/ tables. 

Fountain John Hartley, Pump-row, Old-street-road ...... Fasteuer fox umbrellas and 

parasols. 

Footer, Porter, ft Co...... Wood-street, Cheapside Yictorine. 

Thomas Homing w. ...... Maidstone ...., Shooting -coat and vaistcoat 

combined. 

Bamett Meyers Crutched Friars Mitred handle fbr walking- 

stlclLs, umbrell«Sf eaoea, fto« - 
George Josiah Mack- 
dean .M «.•••..«.• M^Lechlade *..... Thrashing machine. 

White and Wells „ Nottingham Undershirt. 

Thomas Edwards Blrmiogham».»....».........«....... Solkl leather eigaz case. 

George Unite. ,......• Birmingham... .« Slide bolt to secure the pins of 

brooches. 
1519 Wetss and Son ^ Strand Forceps and scissors' Jdnt. 



14 


1509 
1501 


r» 


1508 


tt 
15 


IMS 
1594 


„ 


1505 


17 


1506 


19 


]5or 

1508 
1509 



GUTTA PERCHA COMPANY'S WORKS, 

WHARF ROAD, CITY ROAD. 

Limdon, Ui AfHi, 1848. 
mHS OUTTA PERCHA COMPANY have great pleasure in stating th4t the steadily increasing demand 
-■- foe tho PATBm GimA PancHA Dnivivo BAxns Justifies the utmost confidence that they are fiilly 
apnroved. 

Their durability and strength— permanent contractility and uniformity of substance — their non-suscep- 
tibiUty of injxiry from contact with Oils, Grease, Acids, Alkalies, or Water— and the facility with which the 
ftngle joint re^ulTod can be made in Bands of any length— render them supeiier for almost all working 
pvposes, and decidedly economical. 

GoLosHxs, TuBixo of all sizes, Dovoiss, CATHXTBnSySTXTHsscoFXS, and other Surgical Instruments} 
Moulhiboc #ob PicrtTBB Fbames and other decorative purposes; Whips, Thobos; Tbbbis, Gohw, and 
Caicju* Baxu» fto., in great Tariety. 

Patent Ghitta Perdia Shoe Soles. 

The sppHcabOity of Ontta Percha Soles for Boots and Shoes having been extensively and satis&ctorily 
lestedt we can unhesitatingly recommend the material prepared for this purpose, its merits having been 
acknowledged by idl who have tried it. Indeed, experience has proved that Gutta Percha Soles wear twice 
as long as leather, with great additional personal comfort; and they renuun perfectly impervious to wet 
until quite worn through. 

Boot and Shoe Solea for Sumner Wear. 

I The fact of the total iroperviousness of these Soles to water, enables the most delicate, by the us« of 

them, to eacapo the suffering which the proverbial uncertainty of our climate, xvbb id Suumxr, so often 
iniieta upon the incautious, and this eflbct may be secured by a Sole so thin and light, as to afford to the 
I wearer a degree of ease and comfort hitherto unattainable, in conjunction with security against damp. 

At the iome time, the remarktthle non-conducting propertiu of Ovtta Ptreha afford a mott valuable pro- 
teetion to those who are subjected to suffering or ineonvenienee by walking upon heated pavements. 

The question of the durability of Gutta Pereha Soles, as compared with Leather, has long since been 
decided in fisvour of the former; mnd no Instance of failure baa yet come to the know- 
lo««e of the Oompanj wbich may not be ascribed to a negrlect of tbelr printed 



TO ARCHITECTS, BUILDERS, &c. 
Copper^Wire Cord. 

T> 8. NEWALL&Co.'s PATENT IMPROVED COPPER-WIRECORDfor WINDOW SASH LINES, 
* Hot-houses, Lightning Conductors, Hanging Pictures, Clock Cord, and various other purposes for 
which hempen rope has hitherto been used. This new and valuable Patent is f^st superceding the use 
of the hempen cord, and is strongly recommended to all Builders and other parties connected with tho 
above. The Wire Cord may be had wholesale, and specimens seen at the Office of the Patentees, No. 163, 
FeBchmeh-stieet, W. T. ALLEN, Agent; or retaU of G. and J. DEANE, 46, King William-street, and 
B. PARKS, 140, Fleet-Street ; also of all respectable Ironmongers. 



96 



ADYlBBTiSBMBNTS.. 



To Inventors and Patonteos. 

MESSRS. ROBERTSON ft CO., 

FATKKZ lOLIGITOM, 

(Of which firm Mr. J. C. ROBERTSON, the 
Editok of the Mbchamxcb' Maoaxxks from iU 
commencement In 1828, is princip&l partner,) 
undertake 

The proenratlon of Patents 
For England, Scotland, Ireland, and all Foreign 
Countries, and the transaction generally of all busi- 
ness relating to Patxmts. 

Speelflcatlona Drawn or Rerieed. 

DISCLAIMBRb/aND MSMOaANDUMS OF 
ALTSEATION PRBPARBD AND BNaOLLBD. 

OaTO^ts Entered and Oppoaitlone 
Conducted. 

CONFIRMATIONS AND PROLONGATIONS 

OF PATENTS SOLICITED. 

Searches made for Patents, and Copies or 

Abstracts Supplied. 

Adviee on Cases snbmittedj Ste. 4kc. 

MB88RS. ROBERTSON & CO. 
POSSESS THE ONLY COMPLETE REGISTRY 

OF PATENTS EXTANT, 

Commencing a.d. 1617(15 James I.) and regularly 

continued down to the present time. 

INTENDING PATENTEES supplied gratis with 
Printed Instructions, on Application, either per- 
sonally or by letter. 



The Railway Record, 

(EDITED BY JOHN ROBERTSON, M.A.,) 

IS published early every Saturday Morning, and 
contains ftiU and exclusive Reports of all Rail- 
way Meetings, with the Official Documents in full ; 
Railway Law Cases, Railway Share Lists, and 
Traffic Returns, and all matters afiecting Railway 
Proprietors. It is condderably large^ than any 
other Railway Paper, and is exclusively devoted to 
this branch or' euterpiise. 

The Railway Record will be found a peculiarly 
eligible medium for Advertisers of all articles con- 
nected with Railway Companies, aud all matters, 
whether of use or luxury, which it is sought to 
bring under the notice of Capitalists. 

Price Gd. stamped ; Office, 15S, Fleet-street, 
London. 



To Bngineers and Boiler- 
Makers. 

LAP- WELDED IRON TUBES, FOR MARINE 
AND LOCOMO'ilVE STEAM - BOILERS, 
Tubes (or Steam, Gas, and other purposes ; — all 
sorts of Gas Fittings. The Birmingham Patent Iron 
Tube Company, 42, Cambridge-street, Birmingham, 
and Smethwick. Slaifordshlre, manuiacture Bollurs 
and Gas Tubes, under an exclusive License (tom 
Mr. Richard Prosser, the Faieutee. 

These Tubes are extensively used in the Boilers 
of Marine and Locomotive Steam Engiues in 
England and on the Continent;— are btronger, 
Lighter, Cheaper, and more Durable than Brass or 
Copper Tubes, and are warranted not to open in 
the weld. 

42, CAMBRIDGE-STREET, CRESCENT. 

BIRMINGHAM. 

Works— Smethwick, Staffordshire, 

LONDON WAREHOUSE— No. 68, UPPER 

THAMES-STBEET. 



Automaton Calcvlatom. 

MR. WERTHEIMBER'S Patented AUTOMA- 
TON CALCULATING MACHINES, perform. 
Ing both Addition and Subtraction, from onefiuthinff 
up to a million of pounds, (price. 4/. 4«.), adopted . 
by 4ier Majesty, by the Board of Trade, and sereral 
other Government Offices; and the REGISTER- 
ING MACHINES, whioh indicate the number of. 
Strokes performed by a Steam engine (price S/. 5s.), 
adopted by the Admiralty and the most celebrated 
engineers of England, are now on sale at Mesan. 
Watkins and Hill's, Mathematical Instrument 
Makers to her Mftjesty, 5, Charing-cross. 

Lately published. Third Edition, Price 7s. Gd., 

Microscopic Illiuitratioiiay 

TTiriTH descriptions of the New Microscopes, and 
TV ample Instructions for Use. By Akdkbw 
Pritchabo, M.R.I. 

Alao, by the same, Price 12s., 

A HISTORY OF INFUSORIA, Living and 
Fossil, with Descriptions of all the known spedea 
of Animalcules, and upwards of 500 Engraved 
Figures. 

NoTB.— Part I. of the above work, entitled ** A 
GENERAL HISTORY OF ANIMALCULES," 
vrith the Engravings, may be had separately. 
Price 5s. 

London : Whittaker and Co., Ave Maria-laoc. 



CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER. 
Description of Nicholson's Newark Cottage 

Range— (ipt<A engravings) 73 

Description of Messrs. Deane, Dray, and 

Deane's Portable Fire-engine and Watering 

"Pianp—iwiik engraving) m... 75 

Description of Hope's Steam Boiler Water 

Gau^e— (wiM engravli^ft) „ 75 

Sea Walls— Should they be Sloping or Vertical ? 

By M...,. , 76 

On the same. By William Dredge, Esq., C.E. 77 
Fragment on Logic. By James Cockle, Esq., 

M.A., Barrl»ter-at-law ^ 79 

Description of Tibbit's Spring Holdfast for 

Window SAnhm— {with engravings) 80 

Description of Spark's Railway Dispatch and 

CAAh'box—iwith engravings) », 81 

Softening Ivory 81 

Geometry of the Line aud Plane. By T. S. 

Davies. F.R.S., L. & E., Sic-^coniinued) ... 82 
Mr. Baggs*s Lectures on Electricity. By John 

MacGregor, Esq.— (wi/A engravings)..., „.^„, 84 
On Self-acting Sluices. By T. Smith, Esq., 

C.'E.'-iwiih engravings) «...,„ 86 

The Gresham Professorships— Third Notice ... 69 
Brown and Redpaths' Portable Smiths' Forge.. 94 
The Aid rendered by Mechanics to Agriculture 94 

Weekly List of New English Patents .^ 94 

Weekly List of New Articles of Utility Regis- 
tered ^ 94 

Advertisements ^, 95 

LONDON: Edited, Printed, and Pablished, by 
Joseph Clinton Robertson, of No. 166, Fleet- 
street, in the City of London.— Sold by A. and 
W. Galignani, Rue Vivienne, Paris; Machin and 
Co. Dublin ; W. C. Campbell and Co., Hambaivti. 



MUSEUM, REGISTER, JOURNAL, AND GAZETTE. 

No. 1303.] SATURDAY JULY 29, 1848. [Price Zd., Stamped, Ad. 

Kdhcd by '• C* Viohnuou, 196, ne«t-itre«C' 

BRUCE'S PATENT METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING PIERS AND 

BREAKWATERS. 

Kg. 1. 




TOL. YLIX. 



98 



BftUCC^S PATHNT IfBTHOD OP CONSTRUCTINO PIVRB AND BBSAKWATUlfl. 



Ix Mafch, 1847, a patent was granted 
to Wm. Brnce^ Esq., of the Temple, 
Barrister-at-law, and of FliinstooeyPem-' 
brokeshire, for "certain improvements ia 
constructing piers, breakwaters, and other 
submarine works of stone." As no ac- 
count of these improvements has yet 
been published, and the subject of sub- 
marine architecture is now occupying a 
good deal of attention, ii^ connection with 
Vie construction of Harbours of Refuge, 
perhaps the following outline of Mr. 
Bruce's plans may not be unacceptable 
to the nuinet'ouB engineering readers of 
the Afeckames' Magaasint. 

Mr. Bruce had two objects in view ; 
first, building under water by means of 
machinery ; and, second, the application 
to such Btructures of the principle of 
columnar Bubsidence, so as to snpersede 
the necessity tor a solid foundation* 

The first of the^te objects he proposes 
to attain by a framework of guiding-rods, 
forty (or more) in number, dropped 
perpendicularly into the waHet, »nd de* 
pendent from a framework or tia ? Lller 
(somediing t^sembling the Jenny and 
traveller in ordinary use^) which is to 
travel on a timber framework or staging 
on each side of the mole, of the same 
description as that used in building the 
palaces at Westminster, PimHco, and 
other stone -built edifices. The mote, 
consequently, is to be built endways by 
lowering the blocks of «tone ; the struc- 
ture commencing ftrom a given pier-head 
of bell -work masonry, or woooen piles, 
and being finished to the top before the 
following series of Mocks are lowered 
down. The stones, deeply grooved, 
slide down petpendicularty between the 
finished wail behind and the sort of 
pendent pridiron m fVont. The weight 
of the iron work keeps the peirpendteuiar 
face of the wall in its place, while on 
every two bars a screw-jack travels up 
and down, turned by a rod, the head 
of which is above water, and worked by 
the workmen from above^ so that 20 
men, working 20 screw-jacks, screw 
into their proper places five blocks of 
grooved stones, to stand in layers upon 
one another, like the basaltic rocks of 
the Giant's Causeway, at from 17 or 
18 feet below low-water-mark up to 
the surface, in rows of five stones, 
but actually representing 14 hexagonal 
columnar shafts, the axes whereof are 



cut by the same plane, standing toge- 
ther in four tnple hexagonal colum- 
nar shafts and on^ double hexagonal 
columnar shaft. The result is, that a 
continuous dovetail, from front to rear, 
of stones cut with mathematical nicety 
in hexagonal figures, is produced ; and 
when attained, the second object contem- 
plated by the patentee, namely, the con- 
structing of a mole, or submarine struc- 
ture of stone, without having recourse 
to a solid foundation, is also realized, 
becanse, as the dovetail is complete from 
front to rear, these triple columns cannot 
fall cither backwards or forwards. And 
as the wall must ultimately be ended bv 
pier-heads right and left, and the wall 
Itself is screwed sideways by powerful 
machinery while building, and the stones 
are cut of a geometrical figure, which 
precludes the possibility of any vacancies 
or particular interstices, these triple hex- 
agonal columns can only be moved up- 
wards to the zenith, or downwards into 
the sand; and, however soft the sand 
(imless an actual shaking bog, on which 
not even a rock itself would find a bed,) 
the columnar hexagonal shafts will find 
a bottom to subside upon ; and any occa- 
sional extra subsidence can be supplied 
by an additional layer of stones placed on 
the top, to the extent of the subsidence. 

The accompanying sketehes will serve 
to illustrate the mode of construction 
which has been just described. Fi^. 1 
and 2 are two dififerent perspective views 
of a pier in the course of construction, 
and of the machinery employed ; and fig. 
S is a plan of a portion of the work, 
showing its columnar and Giant-cauaeway 
character. 

The practical utility of such a patent 
as we have been describing can hardly 
be expected to be tested by a private in- 
dividual, or even a company. It is for 
the Government engineers or contrac- 
tors to consider it in an economical point 
of view, and for the scientific inquirer to 
investigate its applicability. In the latter 
point of view it solves the difficulty expe- 
rienced by architects engaged upon struc- 
tures under water, of building on sand 
banks, and converting such roadsteads as 
Yarmouth Roads, Bridlington Bay, Holli- 
wellBay, &c., into smooth- water harbours 
of refuge at the time of high water. With 
respect to the expense, that must be alto- 
gether dependent on local circumstances. 



BBUCB's PAtENT M&THOD Of OOKfttRUCTINO PIB&8 AND BREA&WATBRS. 9> 

Fig. 2. 




100 



THE *' SCOTIA*' STEAM-VESSEL. 



and the supply of stone ; for instance, 
where, as at Holyhead, the rocks can be 
blasted and carried by trams at once to the 
spot of deposition, there the pierre per^ 
due submarine embankment can be de- 
posited at one penny and a decimal per 
cubic foot, according to Mr. Bendel's esti- 
mate. In that case, the expense of deeply 
grooved or indented ashlar blocks would 
exceed the expense, taking into calculation 
the cubic contents and price of the mere 
rough deposited embankment of pierre 

Rg.3. 




'^rdue blocks; but where the same 
given quantity in cubic contents, would 
require to be sea-borne, as in the con- 



strucdon of the Dover harbour of refuge, 
the freight, shipping, and pitchmg over- 
board form the principal items in the 
cost. If, therefore, Mr. Bruce can con- 
struct a pier wall in eight &thoms of 
water, the cubic contents whereof shall 
be to the cubic contents of a sloping 
&ced embankment, as 1 is to 7, and the 
cost of his pier of grooved stone shall 
be lid. to 12d. per cubic foot, while the 
cost of the other b l^d. plus the freight 
and shipping (8s. per ton) or 4d. per 
cubic foot, the comparison will stand as 
follows : — 

a8lxl2d.»12d.Uto 
7 X l|d. X 4d=35d., or a saving of 200 
per cent. 

The cubic contents of two piers con- 
structed on these opposite principles 
may be thus contrasted. One would 
be represented bv a cross-section of a 
tumulus 30 feet high, whereon stands a 
wall 48 feet high, and 23 feet, 4 inches, 
in thickness ; and the other bv the section 
of a tumulus, which is the frustum of a 
cone, the top whereof is 70 feet at the 
least — the angles 40 degrees each at the 
base — and the elevation 78 feet. 

"We do not pretend, however, to strict 
accuracy, as these calculations were 
formed upon the irregular slope of the 
sea- face of the eastern pier of Kings- 
town Breakwater. 

THB '* SCOTIA " STVAM-VKSSBL. 

On Wednesday this splendid vessel made 
an experimental trip from Blackwali round 
the Mouse Light and back, prior to her leav- 
ing the Thames for the Holyhead and Dablin 
station. It is intended that she shall leave 
Holyhead on the arrival of the day express 
train from London, by which means passen- 
gers may travel from one city to the other 
in a day. The sea passage will then not 
exceed four hours' duration. 

On this occasion, a large party of persons 
of distinction and scientific gentlemen were 
on board, who were unanimous in the con- 
clusion that Messrs. Wigram, the builders 
of the vessel, and Messrs. Maudslay, Sons, 
and Field, the engineers, had been com- 
pletely successful in producing a steam- 
vessel, combining at once extraordinary speed 
with great beauty, steadiness, and conve- 
nience. 



101 



IiONllOtl V1US8 IN 1847. — BT Mft. W. BADDELKT, CE., INTBNTOR OF THB FABMBR's 
FIRB-BMOllTB, POBTABLB CANTAB CT9TBBNS, IMPBOVBD H08B-BBBL, BNQINE LAMP8| 
•PmBABBBSy BTC., BTC* 

" ilnother year, with mercies itrown, 
With joyg and grieb, has swiftly flown, 
And we are still in life's rude tide; 
Father, be Thou our constant Guide ! 

'* The statistics of London fires are by no means devoid of interest, and the time may come when they 
wQl form an index to the social adTancement of the people ; for in proportion as houses are buiit more and 
more Hie-prooC and habits of carefulness become more and more diffosed, the number of destructive fires 
trill assuredly lessen."— JTnt^i^j London, 



The yev 1847 was marked by a dimi- 
natioQ not only in the number, but also 
in the extent of fires, in the Metropolis. 
For although a few of these accidents 
were of a most destructiye character, by 
tar the greater number yielded to the 
prompt application of remedial measures. 



Two hundred and forty-nine were ex- 
Anguished by the inmates : three hun- 
dred and twenty- one by casual assatanta; 
while the extinction of two hundred and 
sixty-six deyoWed upon ihe firemen. 

Subjoined is a tabular view of the 
periods of their occurrence. 



MOMTRS* 


Number of 
• Rrei. 


Number of 
Fatal Fires. 


Number of 
liTesLott 


Alarms from 
Chimneys 
on Fire. 


False 
Alarms. 


January 

February 

March 

April 

May 


81 
60 
58 
72 
72 
64 
82 
68 
70 
64 
67 
78 


2 
3 
3 
2 
1 




1 

3 
1 

1 


2 
3 
3 
2 


9 
10 

4 
13 

1 
2 
3 
3 
3 
7 
4 
7 


8 

4 

4 

2 

4 

4 

15 

11 

11 

13 

6 

6 


June .••••••■• 


j«l» 


August 

September.... 

October 

Nofember..... 
December 


Total 


836 


17 


18 


66 


88 



Of theacy there were consumed ^ 27 

Seriously damaged • • 273 

. Slightly damaged 536 

836 



Chimneys on fire «..••••.•.••.. 
Filsealarms , 

. Making the total number of cidls . 



66 

88 

990 

Hie number of instances in which insurances were known to have been 

effected upon the building and contents, was 263 

On the building only • 125 

Ontheeontentsonly.... • ..•• 157 

Uninjured ^91 

836 



From these returns, it will be seen 
liow large a number of persons neglect 



to avail themselves of the benefits of 
insurance, and even of those who are 



" • ICr. Badddey begs to apologize to the Editor and 
to lai» readers for the late period of the year to vhich 
hJs Jlre r§port has been delaTcd. Severe domestic 
taNaTementot loUowtd by illness and groat mental 
prostration, have piavented the completioD of the 
jMoMsaiy analysis tlQ the pcasent ttane. 



** Notwithstanding the diiBculties he has to con- 
tend irith in procuring particulars, tbe writer 
trusts that if spared tiU 1849, his Report will be 
forthooming at the usual period. 

*< 29, Alfred-street, Islington, 
June, ao, IISS." 



102 LONDON FIRK8 IN 1847. 

insured, the greater majority are only aUe adminiitrator of the prop&tkf i 

parHalUfW}. A reeent writer very justlj to his eara. Hm * imiiirafad i 

obsenres on this bead-— credit and estimatian ; he ia naiwaawMy Aa- 

tnuted, and deaerredl J to— for he is awilfol 
"We had thought that, aa insaranoe provokerof misfortane; amanwfaoaemeuia 
against fire was now ranked amongst the so- ©^ ^'inf • be they good or indifferent, depend 
cial duties, that few would be found who hesU ^o"" continuance upon chance. To-day he 
tated or neglected to avaU themselves of its »«y ^o' '^^ iwncie^ security, and before 
advantages. But these returns undeceive tbe dawn of another day be a bf^gajr. 
ua, and forcibly riiow how easy it ia to give Experience fnUy damon straiea tot nmk 
the public undeserved credit for prudence ™«^ *»•» '^'^ *^ exoeplioiqa, aktiasa 
and economy. If the retama be any ante- *o their own foUy ; for slthoach fcha 4aii- 
rion l^ which to judge of the insurance stote «««r tbey court and tempt tp do fts wgift 
oC property, there must be fully one-third «Pon them, may not be the actual cansf 
of the dwellings of the metropolis and their o^ ^beir downfall, yet siich gross indfserv^ 
contents unprotected by the readiest, most **on engenders other pernicious habits, imd 
secure, and most economical means that «ooner or later, the retribution comef , aaf 
have yet, or ever will be, devised for obtain- generally with terrible force. Wie vulgtr 
ing security from loss bv fire. Severs! ""^ *be stupid, oUsa saeli anA^rtoMtai 
atatisticians have estimated the amount of among the • unhieky,' but we have yet to 
uninsured property in the metropoHs at a learn that an improvident, reckless, and 
higher rate than one-third ; but, taking that ^^^1 na*^ can jusUy lay all Ma distress at 
as a correct proportion, what an astounding the door of fortune. The fickle dame, an. 
risk is run by the owners of such dwellinga doubtedly, plays a great part in the drama 
and chattds ; a risk, too. perfectly gratui- of Ufe. but there are occasions and opporta- 
tous— for the expense of insuring is a mere »»ties when she may be disarmed of her 
trifle, and, we feel convinced, is not the dreaded power, and be a thing of tha l|»agl- 
dcterring cause. It is rather a culpable nation, before industry, economy, and saga- 
carelessness, which shuts its eyes to the ^ty." 

possiblUty of loss, and relies for security on The loss of life which, althougb gveatly 

the chapter of accidents. And a pretty diminished, still appears to be large, ia 

chapter it appears when attentively read. resolvable into the following cl|^fica« 

The fire returns for London are a good tion: 

commentary upon the text it furnishes ; for Personal accidents, fh»m falls* Ac •• ^. 4 

those returns show that the majority of fires . f^^o, igintkm af ap- 

in dwelling-houses are caused by the simplest ^nA on tha penon 4 

of agencies. Every year we record a num^ , ^om iateaiealioB.. . 2 

her of these casualties originated by a spark . «., from ignitloa of b^d- 

firom a candle, a spark from the fire, an ^o* 2 

escape of gas, fod flues, and sundry other ^ f^^ riding hi'bad 1 

trivial, but everyday occurring and pro- ^ f ^ni ezidoeioB of 

perty.jeopardizing accidents. We might flreworlu 3 

adduce many appsrently slight causes of Prom inability to etcape from'bimmi 

fire, but the wiser course would appear to buildings 7 2 

be, for everybody to treat even the most '* .^ 

trivial agent in producing that calamity aa 19 

^'^hyl^i'l^^T'J^ ^^^ A«» »t»tement it will be evidetat 

and ^ergency of the kind. The u^<^ **' a wonderful apd gratifvin jf ilftproTC- 

individual preeaution has been, over and F*"** has been effect mthe Metropohs, 

over again, found to be utterly ioeffeetoal as ^7 the Royal Society for the iVoleetioa 

apreventive of fire; and if we k>ok at the ^^ Life fromFire, both aa r^gafda the 

number and variety of the causes, the oppo- number of lives saved solely hy their 

site result would appear almost an impossi- servants, and also by the confidence thej 

bllity. Therefore, it is a duty incumbent have established in Uie public mind lead- 

on every possessor of property that he safely ing indireetly to the very beat reauUs. 

aad regnlariy keep hiaiself insured from loss The following fires are deserving af 

by fire. Self-respect and consideration for special notice * 

others sssist in improving the obligation. wedoe-day. February 17. 10} ,.k. a t«h«^keout 

every idea 01 moral and social duty adds to on th« prtmisc* of Mr. W. Grover, boot and shoe 

its strength, and the man who fails in his maker, Hlgh-itreet, Brentford, which, but fi»r tlU 

unnttea oy bis miprovidance to be an equit- a most lamentable loss of life, On^tist r 



LONDON FIRES IK 1847. 



109 



Hfltti «bo resided next door, attempted to arouae 
Che iamatea by Tioleally knocking at the street 
door, but failing to do so, he returned to the back 
of the buOdlng, and after climbing the wall, luc- 
peeded* with the aid of a poleaxe in breaking open 
the back door, when he ascended the staircace and 
made for Mr. Grover's bedroom; the smoke and 
^aiks were at the same time rushing upwards 
wTOi the greatest velocity; after cunsiderable 
trouble be entered the bedchamber, but the smoke 
lad bbtafned such power over the Inmates that 
they w«re perfsctly unconscious of what was going 
ea. Bast having violently shaken Mr. Grover, 
look two of hie children in his arms and brought 
fbem down stairs, where he passed them througli 
tbe ^Bdow to the police, who placed them in 
cafety; ha again aaeeaded, and with Taylor's as- 
■tetsMe, saved Mr. Orover and his wffe and a third 
child in a similar manner. Not feeling then satls- 
ied that an were saved, Best returned Into the 
taraiBg premiseB a third time, aad inspected every 
loom not on fire, and being convinced that all thfe 
kiBataa were got out, he was about to run down 
the stairs to escape kimself, when a large sheet of 
flauM oiveTlook hsm on the stalroase and oompletety 
knocked him down; but having recovered himself, 
W opened ona of the back windows and leaped into 
uieyard ; when picked up he was quite insensible, 
and the Mood isaaing (h>m his nose and mouth, so 
powerful and suffocating an eflfect had the smoke 
upoa hkn, and it was some time before he could be 



The ^ompt arrival of the neighbouring parish 
•BgioMy aided by those of the Brigade, Coun^, and 
Wait or Bogland firom town, prevented the fire 
axMiding beyond Mr. Orovef** premises. 

At the AmntH Meeting of the jBoy«/ 
jflbm^ />r tike Protection of lAfi from 
fk% the Society's ailver medal and a so- 
^ere%B were pmented to George Beat, and 
t%e SodfBty^fl silver medal to Henry Taylor. 



^ .. March 1, 8| p.m. A ilra broke oat 
ti fhe nnlirthe Vever Hospital at Battle Bridge, 
omtag to a dalwt la the flue. The police appn- 
heasiva ef personal danger to the inmates, went to 
the residence of Conduelor JfiU and requested hts 
attendaaea with ^e Royal Society's Fire-escape. 
HIU inuoedJately arose ftom hia bed and proceeded 
with hia naehloe to the scene of danger. In de- 
ecsoBdlng ftom the top of the building, Hill either 
ffcasped the slack rope, or the rope was Jerked out 
of tie lumda of some person below, aad Hill Ml 
haavlly to the gtound, breaking his knee cap : he 
WB8 removed to 8t. Bartholomew's Hospital, from 
whence he waa ejected before cured, and as it af- 
tsrvacda proved, while labouring under a rapture 
ef tlte diaphiagm, of which he soon after died. 

Tuasday, March 0, 6} ».]«. A fire broke out in 
the hoaso of Mr. LaveU, No. S6, Brownlow> street, 
Drory-lane. The progress of the flames was so 
npidM ^oiQpletely to cut oiC th^ escape of a female 
VMn. Warrea) lodging In the third floor, yrho, after 
ea laei^tual attem^ to eecape by the stairs, re- 
t«eat«d t9 the window to save heiaetf from suiiboi- 
tioa; it was then only that her daogei was known, 
fhr so sudden had been ibe fire as to take every 
ona toy sorpiise, that had it not been for the fore- 
sight and pceieQce of mind of Mr. Hemming, a 
{dumber and glaaier, living opposite, no means 
would hfve been at hand to rescue her. Mr. Hem- 
ming, upon ihe first alarm of Are, obtained the 
Mal^anca of one or two persons to get ftom his 
nremisea a second-floor ladder, thinking it would 
be useful, and by the time it was broagnt into ihe 
street the poor woman was actually hanging by her 
liaDda ftom tbe window-sill at a height of nearly 
iO tpeti the la^er was then quickly raised, and 
before it could 1)e fixed against the house, John 
1>aly, a man in the service of liff essra. Combe and 
Co., nished up} finding the ladder soou feet too 



short, he stood on the highest rail he could, and 
catching hold of the poor woman, slipped her down 
his arm and brought her to the ground in safety, 
amidst the cheers of the bystanders. Great strength 
appears to have been used by Daly, and consider- 
able risk Incurred ftom the ladder being too short 

The Royal Society's silver medal was pre- 
sented to Daly, and a testimonial on Tejlam 
to Mr. Hemming. 

Sunday, March 14, } a.m. A most terrific con- 
flagration broke out in the extensive tar-works and 
saw-miUa of Mr. fiethell, in Battersear fields. The 
works occupied a large area of ground, covered 
with plies of the most inflammable materials. The 
awfal appearance of the fire soon drew a strong 
attendance of firemen and engines to the spot; but 
they were powerless for want of water. Mr. Haar 
derson (the district foreman) had commenced form- 
ing a chain of engines from the reservoirs of the 
Soutbwark Water Company ; but met with a dttch 
midway, ftom whence he commenced working. Ia 
the meantime, a sufficient number of hands being 
oollected, they began to clear away the piles of 
timber on the adjoining premises, so as to make 
a roadway to the waterside, under the active super- 
intendence of Mr. Robins (formerly of the Norwich 
Union.) This being done, an inclined plane was 
formed (torn the top of the jetty on to the beach, 
when the Brigade engine ftom Farringdon-streat, 
the County, and the West of England were skilfully 
lowered, and in full operation m a few minutes { 
apd, by their united power, the progress which the 
flames were rapidly making in an easterly direo- 
tion, was iaappily arrested. But for this admirable 
movement, the destruction of several barges and 
steamboats lying aground was Inevitable, as waa 
also the timber-yards, whiting manufactories, &c., 
in close proximity. The large quantity of unex- 
tinguishable inflammable matter upon which the 
flames were preying, caused the heavens to be illu- 
mined tUl daylight, and the flre oontinued to buta 
Ibi hours afterwards. Every possible exertion was 
made by all present, and the conduct of the firemea 
was beyond all praise. 

A grQSfly-perrerted statement of facts 
connected wiw this fire appeared in the 
Time9f endently proceeding from some one 
Imbued with hostile feelings towards the 
firemei^f and entirely ignorant of the diffi- 
calties thej had to contend with upon this 
occasion. 

Tbe property destroyed consisted of the 
engine-nonse, reptifying-bouse, saw-mills, 
and abont 14,000 railway sleepers. The 
stiU.hoQsa was also seriously damaged; one 
barge was entirely destroyed, and two wece 
serioujBly damaged, as were also some of the 
aiyoinkig properties. 

Wednesday, March SI. 6| p.m. A fire broke OHt 
at No. 2, Little Denmark-street, St. QUn's* origi- 
nating in a feul flue. The Crown-street Brigade 
engines were promptly on the spot, and Ben^amltn 
Cummingy fireman No. SO, having ascended the 
roof, the ladder on which he was standing gave 
way, and he was precipitated into the street, feeeiv- 
ing such severe injuries that he expired ahortly 
after. 

Monday, April 5, 8^ a.m. A policeman on Xion- 
don Bridge perceived smokerising, which he traced 
to come from the Kent and Essex Wharf, Montague 
Close, Soulhwark. An alarm was immediately 
given, and numerous engines from the Brigade, 
HiTest of England, and County stations reached the 
spot before the fire manifested itself, immense 
volumes of smoke arose ftom the waiehouae, aad 
at length the flames burst forfltfromeveiy opening. 



l04 



LONDON FiaVS IN 1847. 



Th« nipply of water wai tcanty, that of hands itlll 
more ao, and the fiie laged for some time with a 
ftiiy that teemed to defy opposition. In a short 
time, however, it began to yield to the powerfU 
efforts that were making for its suppression, and 



was ultimately extinguished without spreading be- 
yond the building in which it commenced; this 
building and its contents were, however, nearly 



ond the building in which it commenced; this 
luOding ai " ■ 
destroyed. 

A ooQit of inquiry as to the origin of this 
fire was held by Mr. W. Payne, the City 
Conmer, when the following vesdict was 
returned :—*' That there is not sufficient 
evidence to enable the jury to decide how 
the fire originated ; but, in their opinion, 
there is erery probability that it arose firom 
the spontaneous combustion of some bales 
of waste or shoddy." 

Thursday, April 29, 8^ p.x. A'flre broke out in 
the shop of Mr. Raphael Merits, dealer in em- 
broidery and Berlin wool, ISO, New Bond-street. 
Mr. Staples (distrlet foreman) with the Brigade 
•ngine, firom King-street, was on the spot in a few 
minutes, broke open the door, and extinguished the 
Are. 

Mr. Moritz was insured in the Defender 
office for 800/., and he claimed 680/. for the 
property destroyed at the above fire, which 
took place in a shop 15 feet long by 9 feet 
wide, and did not burn a quarter of an hour. 
Mr. Merits (who is a Prussian Jew) brought 
an action against the office, which was tried 
at Hertford, July 10, 1847. Before hearing 
any evidence for the drfenee, the jury inter- 
fered and said, " They were not satisfied 
that the fire was not wuful} and with regard 
to the amount of the claims, they did not 
believe that any such amount of property 
was in the shop at the time of the fire.'* 
Evidence for the defendants (who pleaded 
tiiat the fire had been wilfully occasioned, 
and that the defendant's claim was fradu- 
lent) was however gone into, when the case 
became so bad that Serjeant Shee (for the 
plaintiff) said, ** That, rather than a verdict 
for the defendant should be returned, he 
would withdraw from the case." The plain- 
tiff' was accordingly nonetUtetL 

Saturday, June 5, 1 a.m. A most alarming fire burst 
forth tnm. one of the workshops of Messrs.Maudslay, 
Sons, and Field, Westminster-road. The flames 
need in anew building at the end of an ex- 



tensive range of workshops, composed for the most 
part of timber, and the names spread with such 
rapidity, that In a few minutes several parts of the 
premises were in flames. The West of England 
engtaie being rvn into the premises, was set to work 
from the mains belonging to the ftetory. The 
Brigade and County engines arrived from the vari- 
ous stations, and placed themselves in the best 
positions from whence water could be obtained; 
unfortunately, however, the supply of this element 
was wholly inadequate to the emergency, and the 
scanty supply that was obtained was at a consider- 
able distance from the fire. For some time the 
ellbrts of the firemen were of little avail ; and from 
the caipenters' shops the fire extended to the boiler- 
makers, and from thence to the pattern lofts and 
spadons foondry. At two o^clock the metropo- 
lis was teUUaatly illuminated by the flames for 
cff»ts ^ 



Biilaa round. The most heroic 

tj the flxemoD, under Mr. Bialdwood, bj those of 



the West of England, under Mr. Connerton, and 
the County, under Mr. Garwood, with the beat 
results, and by six o'clock all danger of frirther eX' 
tension was at an end. The pattern makers', boiler 
mskers', carpenters' shops, about half the pattern 
loft, and foundry were destroyed. One vice and 
and finishing shop, the smiths' shop, and the new 
buildings were severely damaged. 

The origin of the fire remains unknown. 

Wednesday, June 7, S a.m. During a vio- 
lent thunder storm, the electric fluid struck the 
house of Mr. Wiseman, Brewer's-laae, Greenwidi, 
the roof of which was instantly in flames; the 
neighbourhood was speedily roused, and a scene of 
great conAision ensued as the flre flew from houae 
to house with great rapidity. The buildings were 
very old, and mostly eompoaed of timber. The 

S^ea fimn Greenwich Blospital, one of the Brf- 
le from town, as well as the County and West of 
gland, were in attendance as promptly as possi- 
ble. The floating engine, from Deptford dookyaxd, 
was also brought to the spot, and every effort was 
made to arrest the progress of the flames; bat 
before this could be eflbcted, nine houses bad been 
entirely destroyed, and several otheis more or leas 
injured. 

The electric fluid also at the same time flred the 
house of Mr. Wlchelow, Paulin-street, Bermond- 
sey, and the flames were not extinguished until 
they had done considerable iujury. 

Saturday, July 81 , 1 a.m. A fire broke out in the 
shop of Mr. Wise, saddler and harneaa maker, Ko. 
2, west Smithfield. at which time Mr. Wise and l&is 
son were sleeping in a room behind the shop. In 
the first-floor back room slept Mr. Mead, hia wift, 
and two children, three older childrai sleeping in 
the room over them. A German, named Myrck, 
also slept on that fioor, while another German, 
named Casler, slept in a middle room on the third 
story, and he was the first discoverer of the fire ; 
finding his room fall of smoke, he ran down stairs, 
and alarmed Mr. Myrck, who descended to the first 
floor, and roused Mr. Mead. The latter ran up 
stairs to his children, but they had locked them- 
selves in, and mislaid the key; eventually, how- 
ever, they opened the door, and were taken by their 
father into the flrst-floorfrontroomJQStas tiiellamso 
ascended the staircase. Mr. Mead and the whole 
of his family (seven persons) escaped safely from 
the window, being received in a Jumping-sheet 
from the police sUtion adjoining. Mr. Wise and 
his son escaped at the back of the premises into au 
adjoining house, while the two Germans got on to 
the roof, where they preferred to remain until the 
flre was extinguished. The iire commenced in a 
comer on the left-hand side of the shop, flroiii 
whence it extended through the partition to tiie 
staircase, the draught of which caused it to bum 
most fiercely. The prompt arrival of the engines 
from the Farringdon-street and other stationa, with 
a good supply of water most skilAiUy applied, hap- 
pily soon arrested the progress of the flames. 

Hie origin of this fire appearing^ to be 
inexplicable, Mr. Payne, the City Conner* 
held a eourt of inqui^into the cause on the 
following Monday, when the preceding fiM!ts 
were given in evidence, as also that Mr. 
Wise reached home about 11 o'clock on the 
Saturday night previous to the fire, and, 
lighting a candle, passed tiirough the shop 
to his sleeping apartment with Us son, when 
all appeared safe. At the conclusion of the 
evidence, Mr. Payne observed* " That there 
was not the slightest reason to suppose that 
the fire had been wiUhlly kindled— pladof, 
as it did, the lives of all the inhabitants in 
luch imminent peril— but, that than wis no 



lONBOll Fnt«9 IN 1847. 



105 



potSAn eryeooe to ihow how the fire oti- 
giaatfld;" and the jwj returned a Terdlct 
to that effect. It waa generally Bnpposed, 
however* that Mr. Wlae'a unextinguished 
match had fallen upon some soft combustible, 
which mouldered on till 1 o'clock, when it 
burst into a flame, and the work of destruc* 
tion commenced. 

Batuidar. Aognst H, 11| f.v. A fire broke oat 
•I Na S, Gzeat Badow-itreet, Maiylebone. When 
flnt diaooTered, the fin wm nglng on the firsts 
floor, ftom whence the flamea extended to the 
stidxcMe, cutting off the communication. The 
■cc ond floor was occupied byMn. Compton and 
ftor daoKhten (one paralytic) who, on the alarm 
being given, piesented themselTM at the window, 
ImploTing help. No meant of rescue appearing to 
be at hand, the crowd called to the mother to throw 
bciaelf and children out of the window; happily, 
bowsrer, she had too little nerve, or too much good 
•cnae^ to embrace so hastily this rash expedient; 
and. in a rexj few minutes. Conductor Sutckingt, 
with the Boyal 8ociety'sflre-escape,from the King- 
street station, arrived on the spot, and placing his 
eacape against the burning building, brought the 
wliole iaittily down in safety, amid the plaudits of 
tbe gratlfled spectators. Ae fire was promptly 
extingolshed by the parish and Brigade engmes, 
the first and second floor being burned out, and the 
ataizcase sedously damaged. 

The Royal Sodety presented Hutchinga 
witft their ailTer medal for his prompt at. 
tandanoe and meritorious exertions: they 
also gave tiie sum of IL, and a certificate on 
Tellam, to Mary Cromer, a domestic ser- 
vant, who rushed into the burning room at 
the same fire, and rescued a little child at 
the risk of her life, her 9wn night dress and 
hair beii^ Raited in the set. 

Tbnrsdnr, Anguit M, H a^k* A fire broke out 
flt No. 36, Beech-street, Barbican, in the portion of 
the ahop occupied by a Mr. Leopold Hail. The firo 
spread rapidly into the part occupied by Mr. Jones, 
an Mdng-hoose keeper, and also to Mr. Ingram's 
timbef-jwd; and, notwithstanding the prompt 
attendance of a strong body of firemen and engfaies, 
waa extinguished with considerable difficulty. 

In oonsequence of many suspicious cir- 
eumstanoea attending the outbreak of this 
fire, Mr. Payne held a court of inquiry, in 
the course of whieh the wilftil orlgfai of the 
fire was so apparent, and the claim made 
npOQ the Sun Fire Office so manifestly frau- 
ddent, that the jury returned a Terdlct — 
^That the lioose was wilfully set on fire by 
the tenant, Leopold Hail ;'' and the coroner 
made out a warrant for his committal to 
Newgate ; but he subsequently got liberated 
on baQ, when, in addition, he gaye '*leg 
hail,'' and so escaped the consequences of 
his diabolical crime. 

Sundi^, September 26, 2} a.x . A flie broke out 
at No. 17, Lower Seymour-street, FortmanHMiuare, 
in the sleeping room of Mrs. Anna Jane Pochin 
(aged 63) who had long been in the constant habit 
of reading in bed. Her maid being roused by the 
zinging of her bell, hastened to answer it, when she 
finrnd Mrs. Pochin's room on fire, but was unable 
to enter, the door being bolted inside. An alarm of 
flro waa giren, and Coudmetar Brown, with the 
Royal fioosCy't flz^eacape, was in immediate at- 



tendance. Having forced an entrance to the room, 
he courageously dashed through the flames, and 
brought out Mrs. Pochin, who was promply attended 
by a nelffhbouring surgeon, but unfortunately she 
had received such severe injuries, that she expired 
in 32 hours after the accident. The fire was extin- 
guished before it sproad beyond the room in which 
it so unfortunately commenced. 

At the inquest, Mr. Wakley, the coroner, 
commented on the danger of reading in bed, 
particularly on the part of aged and feeble 
persons, and said, "the practice was in* 
Ysriably attended, sooner or later, by fetal 
consequences." The jury returned a Ter- 
dlct of "accidental death," accompanied 
by an encomium on the gillant conduct of 
fire-escape conductor Brown, to whom the 
Boyal Society presented their edlTer medal 
for his praiseworthy exertions. 

Mondav, Oct. 11, 7 p.m. A fire attended with 
loss of liie occurred on the premises of Mr. Whita- 
ker, ftirniture dealer, No. ,28, Water-lane, Black- 
firiars. The fiames were first seen burning in Mr. 
Whitaker's shop (which was closed) by a police- 
constable, who immediately alarmed the occupants 
of the upper part of the house, which consisted of 
Mrs. Hamilton and family, and a maiden lady 
named Purday, aged 60. On the alarm of firo 
being given, Mrs. Hamilton escaped down stairs 
with her ehildron; on the stairease she saw Miss 
Purday, and told her " to go down, as the house was 
on fire," and supposed she did so. Mrs. Hamilton 
went up stairs again to rosoue some papers and 
returned in safety. The flro raged foriously, until 
the prompt attendance of the firemen with a plen- 
tiful supply of water arrested its progress. After 
the firo was extinguished, the firemen wero sur- 
prised at finding the dead body of Miss Purday on 
the third fioor, about four feet from the window. 
As no person knew that any one remained in the 
premises, no effort was made to rescue the de- 



The police were in attendance with theur 
jumping- sheet, but as that does not afford 
the means of ascending, no search could be 
made, and the fire happened an hour before 
the Royal Society's escapes are on duty. 
Tbeir conductors woariably ageend and 
iearch the premiset to guard against such 
calamities as the present. An inquest was 
held before Mr. Payne, when the jury re- 
turned a Terdict, *' that the deceased was 
burned to death in a fire which occurred in 
the premises of Mr. Whitaker ; but how 
the fire took plaoe there was not sufficient 
eridence to pro?e." The foreman tendered 
the thanks of the jury "to the whole of the 
firemen and police for their extraordinary 
exertions on the night in question." It 
subsequently appeared that Mr. Whitaker 
quitted his shop a few minutes befi>re seven, 
taming down tht gu-bumers very low ; it 
would seem that ia shutting the door he blew 
out the light in the shop, and the gas escaped 
until a luge quantity became collected and 
ignited at the other burner, when the work 
of destruction went on. 

Thursday, Oct. 28, 2| a.m. A fire was dlsooTered 
in the house, No. 9, Drummond<street, Euston- 

auaro, which proved fiital to one of the inmates, 
le flro began in the shop of Mr. Lawson, stationer, 
t3 



106 



LONDOK FtRfeB iK 1847. 



and on being roused the Inmates ran down stairs 
!Mto the street, with the excejitfrtn of a Mrs. 
IfiRckie, who, apparently paralysed by fear, fell 
down on the landing, and before her distressing 
situation was known, was enveloped by the ascend- 
ing flames and burned to death. The parish engine, 
and one f^om the adjoining railway statinn, were 
brought out, but for want of some ^rson skilled 
in their use, were of little avail. The Bri- 
gade engines and firemen soon reached the spoti 
and by their exertions extinguished the fire. The 
•hop, first and iecond floor, were burned out, and 
the roof destroved, and two adjoining premises 
slightly damaged. 

Monday, November 29, 4} f. v. A most destmd- 
ttve confla^atlon broke out in the worlcabopK* 
of MeMra. Lawrence and Soni, carpenters and 
builders, Pitfield-street, Hoxton. From the inflam- 
mable contents of the premises, the flames spread 
rapidly, and soon ignited several hoasea in Queen- 
•treet, three of which were completely destroyed 
and several others seriously damaged before nay 
force of engines or water could be brought to bear 
upon them. At the same time the iire spread frona 
bne stack of timber to another, until the whole was 
one burning mass, throwing out a glowing heat 
which defied approach, and the light of which Dla- 
mlnated the metropolis for hours, and caused the 
greatest consternation to prevail in this densely 
crowded nei{;hbourhood. By eleven o'Hock aU 
danger of further extension was at an end, and 
the firemen by great exertion preserved the dwell- 
ing house unscathed. 

Monday, December 6, 9f a. m. A fire took place 
In the shop of Mr. Bowry, oil and colourman, 64, 
Petter-lane, owing to a leak in the turpentine cis- 
tern, the vapour of which ignited on the approach 
of the shopman with a lighted candle. A cry of 
••fire" was instantry raised, and Mr. Bowry, who 
was in one of the upper rooms, finding the smoke 
coming tjp stairs, opened his bed- room window and 
jumjwd into the street, by which his thigh was 
broken and he was otherwise so much injured that 
he expired four days afterwards in St. Bartholo- 
mew*8 Hospital. By the prompt attendance of the 
firemen, the fire was speedily extinguished with 
but slight damage to the ahop and its dangerous 
oontoits. 

The following list shows the occupancy 
of the premises, with reference to that 
portion of 'them in which the fire origi- 
nated, thereby illustrating the compa- 
rative liability to accident by fire of 
various trades and manufactures, as com- 
pared With private dwellings. 

Anchor smith 1 

Bakers 25 

^rges 2 

Basket maker » # ] 

Beer shops 6 

Bleacher, wiUow 1 

Boat builders 2 

Bonnet-shape makers 1 

booksellers, binders and stationers . . 14 

Boot and shoe makers 6 

Box makers, fancy 1 

Brewer 1 

Brokers, furniture 6 

Brush makers 2 

* The fire commenced in a portion of the work- 
shops which had only just been reinstated after 
being destroyed by fire on the 18th of October 
preceding. 



Cabinet ttiakers and dphdlAerek . . . . ; 

Carpenters and builders.. . • 

Cart : wi... 

Chair makers 

Chapels and Churches ^ . . . 

Cliarcoal tiaakers i 

Cheesemongers :...'•••• 

Chemist ....•;..... 

Chemical iaboratorite ;.; 

Coach makers : . . . ; 

poals, dealers in 

Coffee shops and eating houses • 

Confectioners .: . ;...;...: •: . . 

Coopers 

Cutlers '<. 

College .;•.•;..£• 

Distlflfers • 

Dwellings, private 

Dyers ^..% ..;.•• 

{Engineer