264 Progress im Science. (April. 
balloon was that developed by the arc of a circle turning round its chord, and 
in which the versed sine was nearly one-fifth of the length of the chord. The 
extreme total length of the balloon is 118 feet 6 inches; its greatest diameter 
48 feet 9 inches; its extreme height 95 feet 6 inches; and its cubic contents 
122,000 feet. The screw is 29 feet 6 inches in diameter, and the total ascen- 
sional force of the balloon 3°799 tons. The rudder for steering the balloon 
consists of a triangular sail placed beneath it, and near its rear, which is kept 
in position at the bottom by a horizontal yard 1g feet 18 inches long, turning 
round a pivot on its forward extremity. The height of this sail is 16 feet 
4 inches, and its surface 161 square feet, Two ropes for working the rudder 
extend forward to the seat of the steerer, who has before him a compass fixed 
to the car, the central part of which is large enough to carry a crew of fourteen 
men. The screw is carried by the car, and is driven by four men, or by eight 
men working at a capstan. The gas-escape valves, of which there are two, 
are placed at the top of the balloon, immediately over the pendant tubes, and 
through which the cords for working the valves pass into the car. The con- 
clusions arrived at by M. Dupuy de Lome, from the results of the trial trip, © 
were,—that the stability of the balloon was perfect, that it manifested no signs 
of oscillation under the action of the eight men working the screw, and that 
the shifting of the weight in the car produced no sensible movement. The 
vertical axis was only shifted, under the most trying conditions, a small part 
of a degree, and longitudinally there was no change. In comparing the direc- 
tion of the balloon drifting freely before the wind with the direction given to 
it when the screw was in operation, it was found that the resultant made with 
the normal direction an angle of 12°. It is stated, also, that the speed given 
to the balloon with 274 revolutions of the screw was 6$ miles an hour, whilst 
the rate due to the wind alone was from 26 to 37 miles an hour. 
New Railway Projects.—The number of plans deposited at the Private Bill 
Office of the House of Commons, in connection with new railway projects, 
amounts to 144. There are also 28 tramway Bills, and 53 Bills of the miscel- 
laneous class, including docks, harbours, local improvements, gas, water, and 
irrigation works. Amongst the railway schemes there is a proposition to con- 
nect the Great Eastern, the North London, and the East London Railways, 
with the Metropolitan and Metropolitan Distri@ Railways. The London and 
South Western Railway Company propose to effect a junction between their 
line and that of the London, Chatham, and Dover Company, by means of a 
railway from their Waterloo Station to the Blackfriars Station of the latter 
Company. The Metropolitan Distri& Company propose an extension of their 
line to that of the South Western Company at Barnes. The Metropolitan 
and St. John’s Wood Railway Company propose three new extensions,—to 
the Hampstead Junction Railway near the Edgeware Road, to join the Midland 
Railway at the Finchley New Road, and to Green Street, Grosvenor Square, 
respectively. The Mid-London Railway consists of a series of lines starting 
from the West end of Oxford Street, and running to the London, Chatham, 
and Dover Railway near Farringdon Street, and to the East London Railway 
at St. George’s in the East, with junctions to the authorised lines of the Cen- 
tral London and of the East London Railways. Another Mid-London scheme 
consists in the construction of a railway from the London and North Western 
line at Willesden to the West end of Oxford Street. Turning to provincial 
plans, the first proposition of magnitude is the old Brighton, Eastbourne, and 
London Railway scheme: commencing by a junction with the London, 
Chatham, and Dover Railway at Penge, and the South Eastern Railway at 
Beckenham, it runs thence to Brighton and Eastbourne, having branches to 
Westerham and to the Surrey and Sussex Junction Railway at Oxhead, and a 
goods branch at Lewes. This scheme involves terms and conditions to be 
entered into with no less than fifteen existing companies. Most of the main 
lines have suggestions for extensions in different directions, amongst which we 
notice one by the London and North Western Railway Company for a line 
from their Bettws-y-Coed Station to the Festiniog Railway, to be constructed 
on a gauge of 1 foot 11} inches, the same as that of the Festiniog Railway. 
There are four sets of plans deposited for crossing the Severn by bridges, 
and one for a line to pass under it by a tunnel. 
