38 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



midway between the extreme stations. Motion is imparted to the 

 car on bringing a projecting lip below the car floor in contact with 

 the swiftly moving trucks, but by means of a series of leafed 

 elliptic springs, having India-rubber buffers between each, there 

 is far less shock at starting than is experienced in ordinary horse- 

 cars, being hardl}^ perceptible. The car can be stopped at any 

 time by releasing the truck and applying the brake. The rails 

 are of the ordinary pattern used on steam roads, and their wheels 

 flanged, so that no apprehension need be felt of the cars leaving 

 the track. To make assurance doubly sure, each end of the car 

 is provided with an extra axle and guide- wheels with safety- 

 flanges. The speed attained on Friday was from ten to fifteen 

 miles per hour. The projectors propose making the wire cable 

 larger, so that the rate can be considerably increased ; other 

 minor alterations and improvements, which the trials have sug- 

 gested, will also be introduced. — Scientific American. 



ENGINEERING ITEMS. 



Mont-Cenis Bailway, — On April 20, an engine, with a load of 

 25 tons, made the trip from St. Michel to Susa, returning the fol- 

 lovving day. On the 23d, another engine made the double trip 

 from St. Michel to Susa and back, 96 miles, on the same day, 

 running the 48 miles in bk hours, including an hour of stoppages 

 on the road. The average running speed was about 12 miles 

 an hour. Whether the " grip" of the horizontal brake wheels of 

 the Mont Cenis Railway will be seriously aft'ected in winter by the 

 iiard frosts remains to be proved; but in summer Mr. Fell's 

 railway transports one in a far pleasanter manner over Mont 

 Cenis than the diligence. Six hours and 20 francs a head are 

 saved by it, to say nothing of the greater comfort and less fa- 

 tigue. 



Pacific Railroad. — On the 18th of April the rails of the Pacific 

 Railroad were laid across the Rocky Mountain summit of the line, 

 a point about 8,240 feet above the level of the sea, the highest 

 point reached b}' any railroad in the world. 



Suez Canal. — In the month ending March 15, 1868, the extrac- 

 tion of earth amounted to 1,554,630 cubic metres, considerably 

 more than the amount removed in January and Fel)ruar3\ The 

 quantity remaining to be extracted is about 36,000,000 cubic 

 metres. As the extraction is proirrcssivelv inereasinir, it is iren- 

 erallv believed that the canal will be finished in 1869. Jn Feb- 

 ruary, 1868, it was opened for vessels of light dral't, and a French 

 and Greek schooner passed through from the Mediterranean to 

 the Red Sea. In January, 1867, the receipts lor conveying mer- 

 chandise and passengers from sea to sea were 47,664 francs; in 

 January, 1868, 197,317 francs, — showing a great and steady in- 

 crease. The last number of the "Isthme de Suez" journal gives 

 details of the works, which are being prosecuted with such vigor 

 that the directors persist in affirming that the canal will be finished 

 in 1869. The transit is becoming more and more developed, and 



