432 PKIZE QUESTIONS OP SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 



37. Ou the best description of steam fire-engines, and their power and 

 efficiency, an compared with ordinary hand fire-engines. 



38. Ou the con!--truction of, and the comparative duty performed by modem 

 pumping engines for raising water for the supply of towns, or for the drainage 

 of mines, noticing in the latter case the depth and length of the underground 

 workings, the height of the surface above the sea, the geological formation, the 

 contiguity of streams, &c. 



39. Ou turbines and other water motors of a similar character, and their con- 

 struction and performance, in comparison with water-wheels. 



40. On the present systems of smelting iron ores, and on the conversion of 

 cast iron into the malleable state, and of the manufacture of iron generally, 

 comprising the distribution and management of iron works. 



41. On the manufacture of iron for rails and wheel tyres, having special 

 reference to the increased capability of resisting lamination and abrasion, and 

 accounts of the machinery required for rolling heavy rails, shafts, and bars oi 

 iron of large sectional area. 



42. On the manufacture of large masses of iron for the purposes of warfare, 

 as armor plates, &c. 



43. On the construction of rifled and breech-loadiug artillery, and on the 

 initial velocity, range and jienetration of rifled projectiles, and the influence of 

 atmospheric resistance. 



44. On the use of steel bars and plates in engine work and machinery, for 

 boilers and for ship-building as well as for bridges. 



45. On the use of steel in the construction of locomotive engines, especially 

 with reference to durability and the cost of repairs, in tyres and cranked axles, 

 as compared with iron of acknowledged good quality. 



46. On the Bessemer and other processes of steel-making, on the present 

 state of the steel manufacture on the continent of Europe, and on the employ- 

 ment of castings in steel for railway wheels and other objects. 



47. On the safe working strength of iron and steel, including the results of 

 experiments on the elastic limit of long bai'S of iron, and on the rate of decay 

 by rusting, &c., and imder prolonged strains. 



48. On the transmission of electrical signals through submarine cables. 



49. On the present relative position of English and continental engineering 

 manufactories, especially with reference to their comparative positions in respect 

 of the cost and the character of the work produced. 



50. Memoirs and accounts of the works and inventions of any of the follow- 

 ing engineers : Sir Hugh Middleton, Arthur Woolf, Jonathan Hornblower, 

 Richard Trevithick, William Murdoch (of Soho,) Alexander Nimmo, and John 

 Rcunie. 



Original papers, reports, or designs of these or other eminent individuals 

 are particularly A'aluable for the library of the institution. 



The competition for premiums is not confined to members or associates of 

 the institution, but is equally open to all persons, whether natives or for- 

 eigners. 



The council will not consider themselves bound to award any premium 

 should the communication not be of adequate merit, but they Avill award more 

 than one premium should there be several communications on the same subject 

 deserving this mark of distinction. 



The communications must be forAvarded, on or before the 1st of January, 

 1864, to the house of the Institution, No. 25 Great George street, Westminster, 

 S. W., where copies of this paper, and any further information, may be ob- 

 tained. 



CHARLES MANBY, Honorary Secretary. 

 JAMES FORREST, Secretary. 



25 Great George street, 



Westminster, S. W., August, 1863- 



