18 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



jilains ; and, as the rainfall was three or four times as great in the 

 valley of the; G;uii!;es as that of the Indus, these back bones in the 

 phiins of the Pnnjaub disappeared, as well as all delini'il drainage 

 lines some oO miles below the hills, for the simple n?ason that 

 the water spread over these plains and was absorbed. To this 

 peculiarity in the Punjaub particular attention was drawn ; for Mr. 

 Login argued that, if standing eroj)s and grass could permit, with- 

 out receiving injury, the rain which fell higher up to How through 

 rather than over those standing crops, surely the same water 

 could flow over an iron rail at very slow velocities, seldom, if 

 ever, risiiis: to such a heisfht as to int(M"fcre with a locomotive 

 passing over the line; however, if it did, the obstruction could only 

 last for not more than one day in a whole year. By acting on this 

 principle, Mr. Login believed that hundreds of thousands of 

 jjounds can be saved in the construction of railways in Upper 

 India, as no embankments or masonry c-ulverts and bridges would 

 be required in crossing such high level plains as the Bechna 

 doabs, which he had surve3'ed ; while, by pounding back those 

 flood-waters by embankments, and forcing it to find an escape 

 through culverts, was more costly and dangerous, for it increased 

 the abrading and transporting power of the water, at the very 

 point where alone it could do in jur-y, namely, where it crossed the 

 rail. In support of his argimients he quoted actual occurrences. 

 He urged that deep foundations for bridges was the proper mode 

 for spanning the large rivers of India, and that only the opening 

 for both the main stream and the inundation water should be pro- 

 vided, while any little water that might be left behind in the 

 swamps, or low ground which is below the level of the main river, 

 should be drained ofl' by what he calls " spoon-mouthed syphons.'" 

 Speaking of the minor torrents, he briefly referred to another 

 description of bridge, resting on " inverts," with deep, massive 

 curtain walls, which mav, with economy, be introduced in some 

 instances; and concluded bv stating that once the abrading and 

 transporting power of water was more fully investigated, the 

 engineer could proceed with all descriptions of works alfected by 

 flowins: water with greater confidence and economv, instancing 

 harbors on the Madras coast, which province, from being at pres- 

 ent a financial loss to the State, would soon become profitable, 

 both to India and England, by increased commerce. 



COMMUNICATION BETWEEN GUARD, DRIVER, AND PASSENGERS. 



Mr, S. Varlev, at the meeting of the British Association, read a 

 paper *'0n a System of Communication between Guards and 

 Passengers on llailwav Trains when in Moti(Mi." The svstem was 

 applied in 18GG, and is nosv in use on the Royal train, and it has 

 since been adopted in other trains. He believed electiicity to be 

 the best agent for signalling on rolling stock, and the difliculty in 

 applying it, he believed, was m(n*e with reference to the mechani- 

 cal parts than the electrical. Three electrical systems had been 

 applied to railway travelling : one used by Mr. Preece, on the 



