158 EIGHTH REPORT — 1838. 



On an Improved Method of constructing Railways. By J. Price. 



This method consists in fixing rails on a continuous stone base, a 

 groove having been made in the stone to receive^a flange or projection 

 of the lower side of the rail. The stones and rails are to break joint 

 with each other, and the chair by which the rails are to be secured is 

 to be made fast to the rail by a bolt, not riveted, but slipped in. The 

 chair is to be sunk until the top is level with the top of the stone, and 

 fastened to it by two small wooden pins. Any sinking of the road is 

 to be obviated by driving wedges of wood underneath the stone until 

 it is raised to the required height. The chairs are to be fixed at about 

 four feet apart, and to weigh, if of malleable iron, l^ pounds ; but if 

 of cast iron, 20 pounds : the rail to weigh 50 pounds per yard. 



Machine for raising Water by an Hydraulic Belt. By Mr. Hall. 



In this machine, an endless double woollen band, passing over a roller 

 at the surface of the earth, or at the level to which the water is to be 

 raised, and under a roller at the lower level, or in the water, is driven 

 with a velocity of not less than 1000 feet per minute. The water con- 

 tained betwixt the two surfaces of the band is carried up on one side 

 and discharged at the top roller by the pressure of the band on the 

 roller, and by centrifugal force. This method has been in practice for 

 some time in raising water from a well 140 feet deep in Portman INIar- 

 ket, and produces an effect equal to 75 per cent, of the power expend- 

 ed, Mhich is 15 per cent, above that of ordinary pumps. This nielhod 

 would l)e exceedingly convenient in deep shafts, as the only limit is the 

 length of the band, and many different lifts may be provided. 



On Cliff's Dry Gas Meter. By 3Ir. Samuda. 



This instrument consists of a pulse glass, that is, two thin glass globes 

 united by a tube. These globes are partially filled with alcohol, and 

 hermetically sealed when all the air is expelled from their interiof. In 

 this state, the application of a very slight degree of heat to one of the 

 globes will cause the alcohol to rise into the other. The pulse glass is 

 fixed on an axis, having a balance-weight projected from it, and the 

 axis works in bearings on the sides of a chamber through which the 

 gas to be measured is made to pass the gasometer in two currents, one 

 of which is heated and the other cold. The hot gas is made to enter 

 opposite to, and to blow upon the top globe of, the pulse-glass, while 

 the cold gas blows upon the other. The difference of temperature thus 

 established between the globes causes the alcohol to rise into the upper 

 one, and the glass turns over on its axis, thus varying its position, and 

 bringing the full globe opposite to the hot stream of gas. This stream, 

 with the assistance of the cold gas, which condenses the vapour in tiie 



