Box CASE (Closed). whereupon slush, débris, &c., will be drawn into the lower cylinder B. As soon as the upper cylinder 4 is raised to the top of the cylinder B, the weight of stuff in it forces down the valve C, and the apparatus is drawn up to be emptied. The emptying is effected by drawing the upper cylinder out of the lower, and turning it clear of the mouth thereof as shown at Fig. 4, when the contents of the lower cylinder are poured out. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of an apparatus employed in connection with the invention for burning out or removing chalk or other matter from a shaft or well. A is a hollow vessel formed of lead, gutta-percha, or other suitable material; BC are valves connected to a rod D, the upper part of which is formed with an eye to connect a rope to; E is a sling for attaching a rope to lower the vessel. The vessel A is filled with muriatic or other acid, and lowered to the bottom of a well or shaft, when there the rod D is raised, which opens the valves B C, and allows the acid to flow Land, of India, of America, the marvellous scenery of Switzerland, besides thousands of beautiful spots nearer and dearer to us, are brought before us with all the reality of nature, and rendered as familiar to us as our own homes, and all by the expenditure of a few shillings and a few minutes, which almost every one can spare. It is difficult, however, notwithstanding all that has yet been done, to determine the ultimate scope and utility of this new and astonishing discovery of stereoscopic art. Whether for amusement or instruction, its capabilities appear perfectly boundless. As a direct means of education it has as yet been comparatively little used, although peculiarly suited for such a purpose. There is scarcely a branch of scientific instruction which it could not be made effectually to illustrate and promote, rendering what would otherwise be most expensive, and beyond the reach of all but a very few, quite easy of possession-namely, correct illustrations of the objects studied. Natural history, in its largest sense, sculpture, architecture, history, physical geography, the manners and customs of nations, antiquities, and indeed every inquiry in which the forms of bodies or their disposition are concerned, may be illustrated in a manner in no way surpassable by means of stereoscopic pictures. What we seem to require is, that artists should set themselves to work to complete judicious series of views in each of the above-named or other departments of study; and, this done, we have in the apparatus we shall presently describe, all that is necessary in order to render stereoscopic views amazingly popular as ordinary means of education. The apparatus we refer to, and of which we append illustrations, is intended to facilitate this work by affording the THE POCKET STEREOSCOPIC PANORAMA. means of grouping together in the most conIT is surely quite time that something new made venient form stereoscopic views relating to any its appearance in apparatus for the exhibition of special subject, instead of mounting them in the stereoscopic views, now that the taking of such ordinary and disconnected way in which they have views occupies hundreds, or we may say thousands, been hitherto presented to us. The apparatus is of artists, both amateur and professional, in all of the most simple kind, and in every respect parts of the world. Not a town or village, river most complete, occupying very little space, so as or brook, hill or valley, mountain or plain, escapes to be easily carried in the pocket, although conthe earnest attention of these lovers of nature. taining, if required, as many as a hundred views, or Nor is it only with natural objects that our stereo- even more, besides the stereoscope itself. Its maniscopic artists busy themselves; they dive into pulation is also of the simplest kind, and concrypts, vaults, and chancels, and attain what ap- sists in turning the thumb-screw placed on one pear to be inaccessible heights, to copy the works side of the case, by which movement the views of men's hands also. No flights of steps are too are successively brought under the eye-glasses. bold or too long for them to ascend, no galleries When the apparatus is not in use, not only the too dark for them to penetrate, no steeples or stereoscope but the case containing it, as well as towers too high for them to reach, if not by steps, the views, collapse and shut up into the form yet by ladders and ropes, even, as it were, to shown in the smaller illustration of what is termed outvie each other in overcoming the difficulties the "box" form. The other wood-cuts represent of their calling, in order to enable us to enjoy a modified arrangement of cylinder cases united whatever is beautiful in form, curious in work- together by a very ingenious system of bars or manship, or interesting from historical associa-lazy-tongs, which expand or collapse as required, tions. By the stereoscopic artist's efforts we are taken in the course of a few minutes from one end of the globe to the other, having learned the history and felt the presence of many objects worthy of study. The wonders of Egypt and of the Holy out. placing the cylinders either close together or far at their lowest parts or edges, the hinges are attached about half or three-quarters of an inch from this point, so that this small portion of the sides descends, while the main part of the stereoscope is raised up, such descending portions locking in between the two cylinders, and so resisting any attempt to bring them together until the stereoscope is lowered for the purpose of shutting up the apparatus. The cases are, we understand, now being manufactured in large quantities both in fancy leathers and woods, papier mâché, metal, vulcanite, glass, and other materials, and we doubt not will take well with the public. The invention is that of Mr. E. E. Allen, of Parkside, Knightsbridge; the dies for the bars of the lazy-tongs having been made by Mr. Hobbs, at his well-known lock factory in Islington. The rivets for uniting them have also been manufactured by him, and the bars stamped out by means of the excellent machines employed in the manufacture of locks, of which some day we hope to find time to give our readers an account. In carrying out this invention Mr. Allen has called to his aid the leather-workers and glass manufacturers of London, the papier mâché makers and brass drawers of Birmingham, the lense grinders and spring makers of Sheffield, the silk and paper manufacturers of France, the vulcanite manufacturers of America, besides the kindly assistance of Mr. Hobbs, who undertook the stamping and rivet making part of the work from the interest he felt in the success of the invention, and knowing the great difficulty of getting anything new satisfactorily manufactured. To Messrs. Jennens and Bettridge also Mr. Allen expresses himself much indebted for their kind co-operation in the manufacture of papier mâché work. THE ABRIDGED SPECIFICATIONS OF PATENTS. TO THE EDITORS OF THE "MECHANICS' MAGAZINE." W. T. C. THE GLOUCESTER CORPORATION DRINK- WE are indebted for the following letter to the : SIR,-Having been instructed by our corporation to prepare a design for free drinking fountains for this city, with the desire of escaping from the stereotyped absurdities of pure water vomited from lions' heads, &c., I had a figure modelled by Mr. Irish, a resident sculptor, representing a child playing at a well-a photograph of which, together with a photograph of the original sketch, showing recess, &c., I enclose. The design is now being carried out in cast-iron (bronzed), and the whole cost, including the fixing in wall, and laying on the water from the main, has been tendered for at £8 8s. each. I have also purchased a filter, drawing of which I enclose, to act under pressure, a specimen casting of which I have been for the last week P.S. I enclose my card. experimenting upon, and find it to act (delivering Rochdale, September 15th, 1859. half-a-pint in ten seconds) admirably. You will [What is meant by saying that inventions are notice the reverse action, from the top downwards, not described apart from the drawings, is merely for cleansing. Each inlet and outlet has a tap on, that no verbal description, except that in which and by means of the tap in the principal inlet the reference is made to the drawings, is given.-pressure and the quantity to be delivered may be EDS. M. M.] easily regulated. You will notice, also, that this filter may be placed beneath the flags under the fountain, and covered by a small casing similar to that of the stop-cock casings on water services. By closing the stop-cock on the lower or main inlet, and opening the cleansing cock, the rising tube to the fountain may be emptied in times of severe frost. The cost of the filter, including fixing, &c., will not exceed 50s. The whole cost, therefore, of the fountain and filter, exclusive of drain to the sewers, will not under ordinary circumstances exceed eleven pounds. VERTICAL FIRE WITH ARROWS OR Your obedient servant, JOHN HARVEY, City Surveyor and Chamberlain, Gloucester. TO THE EDITORS OF THE "MECHANICS' MAGAZINE." I am, Gentlemen, yours, &c., Rosherville, 19th Sept., 1859. Fountain Association. Reference to Engravings of Filter. FIG 2 water from passing around the sponge and sand. The plate at the top is pressed down by a screw, to keep the sponge and sand properly compressed. THE CARBON GAS FIRE. I am, Gentlemen, yours faithfully, FIRE. TO THE EDITORS OF THE "MECHANICS' MAGAZINE." GENTLEMEN,-It appears natural for the common mind, so soon as it has become acquainted with any phenomenon, to set about and try to account for it, and to build thereupon facts which are but slightly corroborated. Thus as to the fossils found in coal strata, they look like vegetables, therefore they must once have been growing upon the surface of the earth. So of Dr. Hopkin's theory of a central heat (in your last number, p. 183), it has been found that the heat increases in a certain ratio, and must, at a certain depth, become red hot. Yet with only this single fact to support so large a theory, were there no other way of accounting for this increase of heat, it is not unreasonable to give our assent to it. But if it can be found that this increase of heat may be accounted for on principles to which assent will be at once yielded as being open and easily comprehended, then, I think, our assent may not reasonably be withheld-the former set aside, and the latter adopted. I think this heat found in mines may be accounted for in the same way as some other natural phenomena-the heat of the human body and of hot wells. Before constructing any new theory from isolated facts, it would be well to look round us, and see whether any question arising upon them would not be settled by reference to some already-known law of naturewhich "acts by general, not by partial laws." One general law is that all substances on passing to a more solid state give out their latent heat, which at once becomes sensible; part of the air drawn into the human lungs at every inspiration becomes a solid or more dense fluid, and the latent heat required, in its aeriform state, is converted into sensible heat, giving life and warmth to the body. Part of the water passing through calcareous rocks, as Dr. Hopkins says, of low conductive power, becomes solid, filling crevices in the rocks, forming stalactites in the caverns, and giving out its latent heat, which becoming sensible in the water passing on is the cause of our hot wells. So water percolating through coal and other strata ultimately becomes wholly solid, and must give out its caloric of fluidity to the surrounding strata, which is, perhaps, the heat we find, and which has given rise to the notion of a central fire. DR. HOPKIN'S THEORY OF A CENTRAL in the flight of birds is the energetic action of their wings upon the resisting medium of the air. The comparative power of flight in birds depends on the proportion between (1) their weight, (2) the atmospheric area covered by their wings, and (3) the force with which the wings are worked. It is not the lightest bird with the largest wing which flies best or fastest; on the contrary, the flight of such a bird is generally laborious and heavy. The heron is a familiar example. Its body is extremely thin and light, its expanse of wing is enormous. Every one must have observed how slowly and heavily it flies. On the other hand, birds of the greatest weight, with the minimum size of wing which is compatible with flight at all, fly with enormous velocity. The divers are an example. Their wings are very small, mainly used as fins or paddles under water. The weight of the bird is very great; they have, consequently, much difficulty in rising into the air at all, but when once "under weigh" they go like an arrow. It is their great weight, and consequent momentum, which gives them this velocity. To counteract the great force which gravity exerts upon them, or rather to turn it into a horizontal instead of a perpendicular direction, the small wing is worked with almost inconceivable force and quickness. Nothing but the most rapid strokes could derive from so small an atmospheric area sufficient supporting power. Between these two extremes the heron and the diver-there is among birds every variety of proportions between weight, area of wing, and flapping power. Each different proportion gives a different kind, and a varying power of flight. Some proportions are best adapted for "buoyancy," others for velocity, others for facility of direction. The power of flight, in all its combined conditions of lightness, duration, and perfect facility of direction, attains its maximum in some species of the swallow tribe, especially the "swift ;" and in various kinds of sea birds whose wings are of very similar construction. The soaring of some birds is an apparent exception to the ordinary action of flight, and suggests to the eye the idea of actual buoyancy or floatation. But the exception is apparent only. The eagle or the vulture, when soaring, is not the less a very heavy bird, and the slightest derangement of his machinery of flight would bring him crashing to the earth. Weight is as essential to soaring as it is to progressive flight. The soaring of a bird is effected precisely as the same action is accomplished in a boy's kite. I am, Gentlemen, your obedient-servant, T. L. H. 19th Sept., 1859. THE NAVIGATION OF THE AIR. The navigation of the air-a subject respecting which many of our readers entertain very sanguine expectations, and in reference to which very much has doubtless to be discovered, and as much done —is ably and usefully discussed in the following letter which appeared primarily in the leading journal the early part of the present week. The principle from which the writer starts is, that if we are ever destined to navigate the air it will be by a strict adherence to the principle and a close imitation of the means which have been designed by the Creator for effecting the same purpose in flying animals. He proceeds as follows: Be it observed, then, that none of these animals are lighter than the air; on the contrary, their being heavier will be found to be a necessary condition of their flight. It is from their weight that they derive momentum, and without momentum they might float but they could not fly. We sometimes speak of a bird's flight being "buoyant," but this is only a mode of expressing the greater facility with which some birds fly as compared with others. No bird is ever for an instant "buoyant" in the literal sense of that word. Gravity never for a moment ceases to act upon its body, and on the slightest accident the force of gravity brings it heavily to the ground. The sustaining power This being the principle of flight in birds let us look for a moment at the means or machinery provided to satisfy these necessary conditions. A whole volume might be written on the structure of the wing in birds. In the whole range of nature there is no more beautiful piece of mechanism. But there is one main feature in its action which above all others deserves attention. The stroke of a bird's wing is always perpendicular, and this one action serves both to sustain and to propel. This is a result as well of the structure of the whole wing as of the structure of each feather. The feathers are all so placed with reference to each other that in the upward stroke they tend to separate and to allow the air to pass between them; while in the downward stroke they are pressed against each other so as to present to the air one impervious expanse, and thus to secure the greatest possible amount of atmospheric resistance. The same purpose is further assisted by the shape of the whole wing, which is slightly convex above and concave below. But beautiful as this mechanism is, the most beautiful part of the structure remains to be noticed-viz., that which converts the stroke for sustaining into a stroke for propelling also. This is a result of the structure of each quill, and of the direction in which all the quills are set. Each quill is highly elastic in substance, and in form tapers rapidly to the end. All the quills are so set that the elastic ends constitute the terminal and posterior margins of the wing. The anterior margin of the wing is rigid-being that containing the bone in which the quills are set. The consequence of this arrangement is, that the air, compressed by the downward stroke, escapes backwards, bending upwards in its passage the fine elastic tips; and thus exerting an upward and onward reaction on the whole body of the bird. It must be added that the same principle is followed in the wings of all flying animals ; with much variety in the material, form, and dis position of parts. The wing of the bat is the most conspicuous modification-the more remarkable as in all probability it is on this model that artificial wings will be most easily constructed. By means of a leathery web stretched between long, attenated, and elastic bones, the fore-legs and fingers of a mammal are made to perform precisely the same functions as the pinions and quills of birds. We The problem of aërial navigation will never be solved until the principles of flight are clearly understood, nor until we recognize precisely what are the obstacles which prevent us from acting upon them by artificial means. It is, of course, possible that these obstacles may prove to be insuperable. I entertain a different impression, but, at all events, they cannot be overcome until they are exactly known. I believe them to be all summed up in one great deficit of our present mechanical knowledge-a light motive power. Steam is the greatest motive power among all that we know of yet, but the material required for the generation of steam, and the material required for the construction of its machinery, render it enormously heavy. don't want buoyancy, but neither can we succeed with excessive weight. Every year is, indeed, adding to the perfection of the steam engine-to its compactness and to the amount of power which is derived from a given volume of steam. difficult to say what economy of weight might not be effected if ingenuity and science were specially directed to this object, and if the cellular structure adopted in the bones of birds, and which is already receiving so many new applications in mechanics, where strength and lightness are required, were applied wherever it is possible. Still, I have very little hope that, until a lighter motive power than steam is discovered, aërial navigation will be accomplished. But even with steam some experiments might be tried which would test the principles of flight, and at least lead the way in a right direction for the progress of discovery. It is Not being myself a practical mechanic or engi. neer, I would suggest for the consideration of others some of the conditions under which such an experiment might be made. I assume that it would be easy to derive from a steam engine the perpendicular action of a bird's wing. In truth, the direct action of a piston would give this movement. I rather think this is the simple principle Would there be of Nasmyth's steam hammer. any difficulty in making such a piston work a pair of wings, constructed on some such model as the wings of a bat? What is the maximum velocity with which such a piston could be made to work a given area of wing? or, conversely, what is the maximum area of wing which such an engine could be made to work at a given velocity. When these questions have been answered by calculation or experiment, the next step would be to ascertain the lifting power of such action. I have no hope that any steam engine can be made so light and so powerful as to work wings capable of lifting its own weight. But the important question is-how much of that weight can be so lifted, or rather (as no actual lifting would take place) how much of the weight would be deducted from the gross weight by the rapid action of the wings? Would it be any appreciable quantity? It is impossible to doubt that the amount of atmospheric pressure exerted by steam power working a vane or wing would be very considerable. The amount of such pressure would be the measure of the lifting power exerted, and might be tested or calcu lated in various ways. Supposing, then, that a steam-engine could be constructed which could move wings equal to lifting 1-10th, or even 1-20th of its own weight, the difficulty remains how to deal with the re THE ASSOCIATION OF FOREMEN ENGINEERS. new members and friends generally to trace the No. of Contribu- Honorary Dona- 1856 Entrance 12 10 0 tions. Date. £ s. d. 23 4 0 4 36 10 0 6 £ s. d. 8 8 0 770 21 21 7 6 8 3 3 0 24 36 3 0 mainder. In default of any other means of deal- In a subsequent letter Mr. L. Morris writes as follows:-"It may be useful to point out a few errors into which he (the above writer) has fallen, and which can only have the effect of leading away from the path he wishes to pursue. He states that weight is essential to a bird's flight, as producing momentum; now this cannot be considered as essential, but as incidental. A kite is not sustained by the weight of the string, but in spite of it, although the string is incidental to its occupied to-night the chair he so unworthily filled! the assistance of members, whilst they have solaced condition. We do not, in order to overcome the power of gravity, require an aërial machine to be proportionally heavy; on the contrary, the lighter it is the better. The writer also states that a bird is enabled to fly more swiftly and with greater ease in proportion to its increase of weight (within certain limits), when it must be evident that both the swiftness of its flight, and consequent momentum, entirely depend upon the speed with which the wings are moved, and its rate of progress can never exceed the rate of this movement. Your correspondent also observes that the 'soaring' of a bird is caused by the pressure of the wind on its outstretched wings, exactly as in the case of a kite. This action of the wind, however, could only produce a backward movement, and soaring' is evidently caused by the previously-acquired movement of the bird causing a resistance which for a time sustains it in the air; and this is the very principle carried out in previous attempts to construct a flying machine. It is sufficient to sum up by stating that the problem of aërial navigation will be easily solved whenever the progress of science shall place us in command of a motive power considerably lighter in proportion to its capacities than any steam-engine that can be constructed, and not till then. This is the true direction to whien our aims should tend." THE NEW STEEL. We have this week had an opportunity of examining a sword-bayonet constructed of steel manufactured by Farrar's new process. This sword-bayonet has been put through all the tests ordinarily used to try such instruments, and has stood them with perfect success. The steel commonly used for such bayonets by the manufacturers of the weapon cost £81 per ton, whereas the Farrar steel employed in the present instance costs only about a third of that amount per ton The value of Mr. Farrar's process may be judged of from these facts, at their hands. It was certain that the masters' to incite them to lend their countenance to those who Mr. Fowler, an employer, in responding to this toast, disclaimed to some extent the strictures of the chairman as to the isolation of employers generally from the interests of the society, and concluded by handing in his own name and subscription as an honorary member. "Honorary Members and Supporters" was the next toast, and this was responded to by Mr. Blackett. "Prosperity to the Association of Foremen Engi- pliance with your request, a brief history of the Asso- may be further stated that during the present year valuable papers have been read at our ordinary monthly meetings by Mr. Newton, our chairman, on Men on the Age in which we Live. By Mr. Keyte, on 'The Making of Heavy Iron Castings. By Mr. Briggs, Senr., on The Concussion of Water. By Mr. Stabler, on The Economical Formation of Steam.' And by Mr. C. F. Hayes, on 'The Manufollowed them have tended in no small degree to ture of the Rifle." These and the discussions which the elevation of the institution, and the edification of its members. The library fund, a separate and distinct affair from the general fund, I regret to say languishes somewhat, and though we have to thank Mr. McGregor especially for a donation of books, yet the library is not quite what it ought to be. I think, Mr. Chairman, that the report may be deemed on the whole satisfactory, and I look confidently forward to the future of the Association of Foremen Engineers.'" The reading of this statement elicited much applause, and silence being restored, the chairman proceeded to give, as his next toast, the "Scientific Press." Alluding to the statement of the secretary, and trusting that the representatives of the press then present would ensure it the publicity of their columns, Mr. Newton proceeded to observe that much of the recent success which had attended on the society was meetings, which had been regularly published in the various journals which constituted the scientific press of London. In eulogistic terms the chairman then gave the toast, which was drank with "three times three." In obedience to the request of the chairman, Mr. E. J. Reed, of the MECHANICS' MAGAZINE, a the senior member of the press present, responded to the toast. In his address Mr. Reed alluded to the importance of the class of men who constituted the foremen engineers of the kingdom. He pointed out the unrecognised influence which they exerted in the promotion and successful carrying out of all engineering works, and incited them to persevere in the pursuit of mutual improvement for which the association offered such facilities. due, as he thought, to the notices of their monthly "Success to the Engineering Trade" succeeded, and Mr. Keyte acknowledged it. Then came the "Founders of the Association," and a response on behalf of the surviving founders by Mr. Briggs. "Our Visiting Friends," prefaced in a kindly tone by the chairman, was drunk, and Mr. Robertson, in a talented speech, acknowledged the honour conferred. The "Health of the Chairman" was next proposed by Mr. Keyte, who described that gentleman as "an able mechanic and a clever man," which he said well qualified him for his post. This was received with an amount of en thusiasm and of what are called "musical honours," which must have amply repaid the chairman for his exertions on behalf of the society. The cheers for Mr. Newton made this part of the proceedings quite an ovation. Under the manifest influence of strong emotion, the chairman thanked the assembled foremen for the warmth with which his name had been received, and promised to devote his whole energies to the welfare of the society. He regarded, he said, mankind as the agents of a higher Power, and bound, therefore, to develope the good promptings of the mind into deeds of kindness and love. Gratefully he returned his warmest acknowledgements, and proud indeed was he to possess their good opinion. The health of the secretary was next proposed by Mr. Ross, and duly responded to by the former. The health of the treasurer was pledged by Mr. Keyte, and the "Managing Committee and Librarian" was proposed as a toast in a neat speech by Mr. Stabler, Mr. Briggs returning thanks. Mr. Suffield gave "The Ladies." These pleasant proceedings, unmixed by one dash of alloy, brought twelve o'clock too speedily, and the National Anthem concluded a delightful meeting. It may be stated that the address of the Secretary is 7 Arlington-square, New North-road, Islington, London, and that country foremen are eligible as members. Our Weekly Gossip. In searching the annals of the coinage of Great Britain some curious facts have been disinterred from musty volumes and age-worn parchments. Few persons probably, for instance, are aware, as we were not until lately, that the term "bawbee," as used by our northern friends, was the legitimate name of a current copper coin once circulating beyond the Tweed. Towards the end of the reign of Charles II. this coin came into existence, and passed for sixpence. The "bawbee" had for its obverse impression the King's bust facing his right, His Majesty's name abbreviated, numeral and titles; and for its reverse, Nemo. Me. Impune. Lacesset., and the date 1677, with a large thistle crowned. The weight of the "bawbee" was about 130 grains. Coins called "bodles" had circulated in Scotland before the period in question, but Charles II. seems to have had a penchant for creating new coins, and for giving new impressions to them, he therefore ordered "bodles" to be struck equal in value to twopence only, in place of threepence, as previously. The "bodle" of this monarch bears a similar device as an obverse to that on the "bawbee," with a sword and sceptre under a crown, and a reverse similar to that of the "bawbee," except that the thistle is not crowned. The weight of the "bodle" is about one third that of the "bawbee." It is a curious fact, and somewhat apropos to the coming coinage of mixed metal, that the Merrie Monarch had a peculiar horror of mixed materials for coinage. It was ordered, for example, in the year 1661, that three thousand stone weight of pure copper, without any mixture of brass," be forthwith coined for circulation in Scotland. "Two thousand stone weight of said copper to be coined within three years after the date hereof, and the third thousand within such time after the expiration of the three years as the Lords of the Secret Council shall judge meet, and who are to resolve upon the impression and circumscription to be stamped upon the pieces." When will the "Lords of the Secret Council" of our own time come to a decision as to the "impression and circum. scription" to be put upon the new bronze pieces which the Government have determined to issue. It is rumoured that there are great differences of opinion among them on the point, and that a strong determination is manifested in one quarter to keep Britannia, King Charles' Lady Stewart, seated as of old upon the rock supposed to be on the sea shore. We still hold that public competition among artists and engravers is the proper course. Has no engraver the public spirit to produce a set of designs for the mixed metal pence, halfpence and farthings? Speaking of the Scottish coinage, it may be stated that in the reign of James II. no copper coins were issued; that in the reign of William and Mary more "bawbees" and more "bodles" were coined, the first having on the obverse the busts of the King and Queen, and their names, and the second on the obverse the initials of their majesties in cypher in the field, instead of the sword and sceptre, and only their titles circumscribed. The last distinctive copper coins for Scotland were struck during the reign of William III., and bear date 1694, and no "bawbees" or "bodles" have been minted since that time. A French agent, who is stated to be a distinguished naval officer, pre-eminent for his nautical knowledge and experience (and whom, we believe, to be Admiral Paris, Major-General Maritime of the port of Brest, and with whom we had much pleasant and instructive intercourse on board the Great Eastern), bears testimony, in a letter published in Wednesday's Moniteur, to the enormous strength and indubitable safety of the Great Eastern, and to her victory over the ocean. With regard to the first point, the naval officer says: "Nevertheless, it may be said that the destruction of the forward funnel of the Great Eastern might have happened to the smallest steamer, and would probably have occasioned its total destruction, because it would not have presented the mass and solidity of the great ship, while the accident in question in nowise compromises the future of this last." With respect to the second point, the same authority says: "The little swell while going against a strong head wind, and a heavy sea on, proved that the nautical problem has been solved (the italics are his own). If there be any doubts, they can only be as to her rolling, because she experienced no slanting heavy seas, and the vessel was too light to be considered in her normal position. But when, with the wind right ahead, she oscillated up and down hardly a quarter of a degree, while the neighbouring vessels plunged into the waves, and her sharp bows threw up less spray than a boat, one feels convinced that no sea can stop her, and that she cut through the waves with too great a force and facility for them to retard her progress, or for them even to produce that pitching which is so inconvenient to passengers. Contrarywise to so many ships of rounded lines, which the sea tosses and retards more than does the wind, the Great Eastern meets with no impediment from the waves. She cuts them too easily to feel their rapid motion; the wind appears the only obstable which nature can present; and all who are acquainted with navigation know how slight its action is in comparison with the action of the waves. Thus the trial which has just been made proves that this gigantic mass will always overpower the sea, and that she will not feel even the effects thereof, except when the waves strike her sideways. But then, again, the weight of the vessel and her length will diminish her motion, as was proved during the voyage, when, from the breaking of some position to present her broadside to the sea." part of her steering gear, she was thrown into a The following clever piece of vaticination, taken from a leading article in the Times, is well worth :-"A thousand years hence, if the world last reading:so long, we shall have 'Railway Antiquities. At the meetings of perambulating associations papers will be read on the origin and early struggles of this or that line. The sketches of a primitive locomotive will then Royal Harry, in which Henry VIII. set forth to the be as curious as the picture of a Chinese junk or the Field of the Cloth of Gold. handled and passed to and fro, with remarks on the Bits of old rail will be quality or make of the iron. Here and there a bridge or a viaduct will be shown to illustrate the waste of material natural to a semi-civilized age, and the preference of finery to simplicity. Architects will remark on the absurdity of our making a railway train pass over a Doric entablature, or placing a booking-office under the Temple of the Giants. Should there ever be discovered a means of locomotion sufficient to scale greater inclines than are now possible, our prodigious tunnels, cuttings, and embankments will then be as mere curiosities and as decided proofs of our scientific ignorance as the aqueducts of Rome. They will be classed with pyramids and sphinxes, as the mere follies of power and wealth. Nevertheless, the earth. work will stand. It will never answer anybody's purpose to level a huge embankment or fill up a cutting. Costly as it was to make, it will be more costly to unmake; there will be no object, and the funds will not be forthcoming. So, should the world last a thousand or ten thousand years, 99 per cent. of our earthworks will stand just as they are. So stand the barrows, and dikes, and hill-camps, which are uncertainly referred to Britons, to Romans, to Danes, and every tribe that existed before the Conquest. Stones are removed, marble is burnt for lime, ashler work is stripped away, even concrete crumbles, the copper tie attracts the plunderer, everything perishes or is destroyed, but solid earth remains. There it lies; it neither moulders nor rusts; nobody carries it away; it is neither blown up nor ploughed over; earth it was, earth it is, and earth it will remain. So, as we say, ten thousand years hence our railway earthworks will remain. There will then be a hundred thousand miles of rail, and every village will have its branch; and there will be a series of Bradshaws, with their maps complete, purchased at the rate of 21. a-number, in the British Museum, and there will be no difficulty in distinguishing an ancient line of 1859 from the modern addition made in the reign of Albert XXIII, A.D. 6859. A single peck of the mound will show the difference of the s, and the production of a timetable will set at rest the question whether or not there was a line in the 19th century between one place and another. Many laments will be made over the unhappy convertibility of paper, which will then have reduced so many interesting records to the original pulp. Even a palimpsest, it will be observed, can bə made to reproduce its six or seven strata of ancient lore; but piles of journals, archives of railways, Herapath and Bradshaw, pulp they were, and into pulp will they have returned." The China Telegraph communicates the following facts respecting telegraphic progress. Messrs. Newall and Co's steamers Imperador and Imperatriz will be ready to leave Liverpool at the end of the present month, with the remainder of the cable to connect Kurrachee with Aden. The cable to connect Alexandria with this country is now to be laid through the Islands of Rhodes and Schios to Constantinople, and not by way of Candia, as previously intended. It is expected to be laid in about a month by Messrs. Newall and Co. Captain Pullen, of the Cyclops, has fixed on Hallani, one of the Kooria Mooria islands, as a station for the Red Sea telegraph.-A contract has been made with the Gutta Percha Company, on behalf of the Government, for a cable to be laid from Falmouth to Gibraltar, 1,200 miles, which is to be ready in June next. This will be succeeded by one from Gibraltar to Malta and Alexandria, thus giving an independent line, free from Continental dith culties. 66 We have before us a circular headed "Universal Peace throughout the World," which informs us that Speedily will be published, with engravings, the particulars of a new peace-inducing system of aggres sive warfare, so overwhelmingly destructive in its results, that nations could not exist if brought to bear against them for any protracted length of time, the very knowledge of which (without ever being put to the test), it is believed, when duly appreciated by mankind, must inevitably become the forerunner of peace throughout the world, by making it evident to the meanest capacity, that all standing armies, town and coast fortifications, ride clubs, vessels of war, and national defences of every kind, would not only be perfectly inefficient, but absolutely powerless to resist, prevent, or lessen in the slightest degree the dreadful consequences of a well-directed attack upon this principle, which in point of cost (as compared with every other system of warfare) would be trivial in the extreme, and of which particulars a brief statement has been already forwarded to the Government, several Members of Parliament, and the Lord Mayor of London." It will only be fair to say that this document himself as the " (assistant) surveyor of the Liverpool proceeds from Mr. W. H. James, C.E., who describes and Manchester and Bolton railroads in the year 1821, and eldest son of the real (but unrequited) originator and founder of the modern railway system." What a happy prospect we have to thank Mr. James for! NOTICES. P. S.-It is seldom an easy thing to refer correspondents to situations that will suit them; and in your case we have not, of course, the slightest knowledge of what you are fit for, or of what is fit for you, otherwise we would gladly aid you if we could. JAMES PARKER, Camberwell.-Your letter reached us it next week. too late to find a place in this number, but we hope to give The MECHANICS' MAGAZINE will be sent free by post to all subscribers of £1 1s. 8d., annually, payable in advance. Post Office Orders to be made payable to R. A. Brooman, at the Post Office, Fleet Street, London, E.C. |