84. Chronicles of Science. [Jan., 
Amongst the most important events connected with railway 
construction we may mention that the last connecting link of the 
extensive system of high-level lines at Battersea, which has been in 
course of construction since 1864, to improve the access to the 
Victoria Station, London, was opened for traffic in October last. 
The works on the Metropolitan Extension Railway are making good 
progress. The East London Railway from Liverpool Street, in- 
cluding the junction on the south side of the Thames, will be seven 
and a half miles long, and is to cost 1,866,0002. 
In Scotland, the Denburn Junction Railway, connecting the 
Caledonian line with the Great North of Scotland system at 
Aberdeen, has been opened for public traffic. This line is only a 
mile and a half in length, but by its means there is now an un- 
broken communication between the extreme north and south of the 
kingdom. 
In October last the Mont Cenis Tunnel was advanced 131°85 
metres, or upwards of 140 yards; and up to the 31st of that 
month 7,664 metres had been excavated, leaving 4,555 metres to 
be done to complete the work. The progress during the first ten 
months of the present year was 1,329 metres against 1,094 metres 
excavated during the whole of 1866. If the rate attained during 
October can be kept up, this tunnel would be completed in 1870. 
The Italian Government has been pushing forward the con- 
struction of a line to unite Marseilles, Genoa, and Leghorn, vid the 
littoral of the Mediterranean, and it was expected that a section, 
from Genoa to Chiavari, would be opened for traffic in the course of 
last November. The works of the Foggia line and the port of 
Brindisi have been recently inspected by the Italian Minister of 
Public Works ; a considerable portion of the Foggia line, it is said, 
might be opened in December, but obstacles are feared. 
The Baden Government has recently brought out a loan of 
12,000,000 thalers, or nearly 2,000,0002. for railway purposes. 
Great activity continues to be displayed in connection with the 
development of railways in Russia. Three important sections have 
been opened of late, vz. from Odessa to Tiraspol, from Warsaw to 
Tiraspol, and from Balta to Obriopol. The concession has been 
eranted of a line from Poti to Tiflis, while surveys have been 
commenced for another line from Rostow, on the Don, to the Black 
Sea. And a line is to be constructed, at the cost of the State, from 
Koursk to Karkhow and the Sea of Azoff. 
An extension of privileges has recently been granted by the 
Government of New Granada to the New York Panama Railroad 
Company. This company, it is said, will now extend the road two 
or three miles out into the Bay of Panama, so that the largest ships 
and steamers may load and discharge alongside the track. 
There has been a good deal of talk of late about public works 
