1875.j Railway Accidents. 7 
have here called attention to, and of which we have given 
the geometrical cause. 
‘Thus it may be said that, under certain conditions, straight 
lines in the heavens may appear like arcs of circles or ellipses, 
whilst arcs of circles appear like straight lines, and these 
changes are due to the relative position on earth of the 
observer, in spite of the fact that, compared to the alteration 
in position on earth of an observer, the distance of the 
fixed stars are infinite, and at a superficial glance it would 
seem that no change of position on earth could alter their 
apparent relative position as regards each other. 
Me RAT ENWaAY ACCIDENTS: 
By Frep. Cuas. Danvers, Assoc. Inst. C.E. 
of railway accidents, and the best means of preventing 
them, and so important is it in the interest of the 
public generally, that a few pages of the “‘ Quarterly Journal 
of Science” may, with advantage, be devoted to a consider- 
ation of how far all known and practicable means for the 
mitigation of the dangers of railway travelling have been 
adopted. In investigating this question we must refer 
briefly, in the first instance, to the early history of railway 
legislation, with a view to trace what steps have been taken 
by the Government for the protection of travellers, prior to 
enquiry as to what action has been taken by the railway 
companies themselves with the same object. 
The earliest railway or tramway Act was passed in 1801, 
for the construction of a railway from Wandsworth to 
Croydon, for “‘the advantage of conveying coals, corn, and 
all goods and merchandise to and from the metropolis and 
other places.” From this period new tramways or railways 
were sanctioned in almost every session. The Acts by 
which the earlier railway companies were established fol- 
lowed very closely, in their general scope, the provisions 
which had been applied to canal companies. The promoters 
of the project were constituted a corporation, and were 
authorised to raise such money, either by shares or by 
borrowing, as they required for completing their under- 
taking; and they were empowered in their corporate 
capacity to take lands compulsorily, and to charge tolls 
at their discretion for the use of their railway, within the 
&° much attention has of late been given to the subject 
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