XVII. An Enquiry into the Causes which led to the Fatal Accident on 

 the Brighton Railway (Oct. 2, 1841), in which is developed A 

 Principle of Motion of the greatest importance in guarding agtiinst 

 the Disastrous Effects of Collision under whatever circumstances 

 it may occur. By the Rev. J. Power, M.A., Fellow and Tutor 

 of Trinity Hall, Cambridge. 



[Read November 29, 1841.] 



When accidents have occurred on railways, in the majority of instances 

 some cause has been immediately apparent, to which the occurrence might 

 be reasonably imputed ; but the fatal accident which took place on the 

 Brighton Railway, in October last, the cause of which still lies buried 

 in the greatest obscurity, forms a remarkable exception to the above rule. 



In meditating on the possible causes of this accident, I have arrived 

 at some Dynamical Results, which will be given in the course of this 

 investigation, and which are, as I conceive, of the greatest importance 

 to the public safety, inasmuch as, by attention to them on the part of 

 Engineers, the disastrous consequences of collision may be very materially 

 diminished. 



In order to pursue the proposed inquiry with effect, it was necessary in 

 the first place to ascertain, as accurately as circumstances would permit, the 

 true history of the accident. With this view, I have examined with great 

 care the report of the Coroner's Inquest as given in the Times news- 

 paper, and have succeeded, to my own satisfaction, in forming a tolerably 

 consistent narrative out of the disjointed materials of which the evidence 

 is composed. 



It would be tedious to occupy the attention of the reader with the 

 critical details of the above examination, and I shall therefore proceed 

 Vol. VII. Paet III. Kk 



