278 071 rebiulding London Bridge. 



money to complete it, which, at a moderate estimate, may 



be taken to exceed the same loss arising from the old 



bridge in the last twenty years. 



Hence, in any view of the question, it would be unreasonable 



to consider the cost of this bridge at less than oiie million ayid 



a half. 



These observations may probably, through your Journal, 

 cause more inquiry to be made into this important question, 

 than the impatient determination, at any rate to have a new 

 bridge, has hitherto allowed. They may make the failure of 

 the proof of the expediency of removing the dam of the bridge 

 manifest ; also shew the deficiency of the means for building 

 the bridge, without taxes to a large amount being eventually 

 levied on the public ; and remove the general delusion, that the 

 thoroughfare over the bridge will be more free than it is at pre- 

 sent. They may cause some reflections on the forbearance of 

 the government regarding the public dignity, but scrupulous of 

 increasing the public expenditure, in listening for a moment to 

 such an useless and dangerous expense, which, directly or in- 

 directly, will cause taxes to be raised to pay a million at least, 



WHILE THE WANT OF A PALACE IS A GENERAL R.EPR0.1CH 

 TO THE NATION, AND A SUBJECT FOR DERISION WITH 

 EVERY FOREIGNER. 



Art. VII. Estimate of the Force of Explosion of Coal 

 Gas; laid before the Committee of the Royal Society 

 in the Year 1814. 



[By one of its Members.] 

 It must be confessed, that without direct experiments on the 

 force of any exploding compound, we can obtain nothing more 

 than probability by calculating from the analogy of other simi- 

 lar effects : but provided that we take sufficient care not to 

 underrate the forces in question, we may obtain, from such a 

 comparison, at least a useful estimate of their greatest possible 

 magnitude. 



