Mr. Palmer om Railways of a ne'-jc Principle. 67 



the luirnan Membrana Tympani and that of the Elephant. Bv 

 Sh- Everard Home, Bart. — Corrections applied to the Grea't 

 Meridional Arc, extending from Latitude 8° 9' 38",39, to 

 Latitude 18° 3' 23'',64, to reduce it to tire Parliamentary 

 Standard. By Lieutenant Colonel W. Lambton. — On the 

 Chajigss which have taken place in the Declination of some 

 of the principal Fixed Stars. By .J. Pond, Esq. — Appendix to 

 the preceding Paper on the Changes which appear to have 

 taken place in the Declination of some of the Fixed Stars. By 

 John Pond, Esq.— On the Parallax of « Lyra?. By .John 

 Pond, Esq, — Observations on the Heights of Places in the 

 Trigonometrical Survey of Great Britain, and upon the Lati- 

 tude of Arbury Hill. * By B. Bevan, Esq. — On some Fossil 

 Bones discovered in Caverns in the Limestone Quarries of 

 Oreston. By .Joseph Whidbey, Esq. To which is added, a 

 Descri})tion of the Bones by Mr.Wm. Clift. — On the Chinese 

 \ ear. By J. F. Davis, Esq. — Experiments for ascertaining the 

 A'elocity of Sound, at Madras in the East Indies. By John 

 Goldingham, Esq. — On the double Organs of Generation of 

 the Lamprey, the Conger Eel, the common Eel, the Barnacle, 

 and Earth- Worm, which impregnate themselves ; though the 

 last from co])uIating, appear mutually to impregnate one an- 

 other. By Sir Everard Home, Bart. 



Drscriptio7i of a Railvjay on a ncix) Principle., idth a Tabic of 

 the comparative Amount of Resistance on several now in use; 

 also an Illustration of a newly observed Fact relating to the 

 Friction of Axles ; and a Description of an improved Dyna- 

 mometer. By Henry R. Palmer, Civil Engineer, Mem- 

 ber of the Institution of Civil Engineers. J. Taylor. 1823. 

 PJ1. GO. 8vo. 



It has often been remarked that those things which suc- 

 ceed in model often fail entirely when tried on a large scale ; 

 and it is equally true that many things succeed on the large 

 scale which promise very little when tried in model; one of the 

 most striking examples of the latter kind is a ship. What can 

 aflbrd less prospect of stability than experiments made on a 

 small floating body? — what individual, not deeply versed in 

 liie theory of state;, would have ventured to construct a ship 

 on such experiments? The machine described in the pam- 

 phlet before us is of a similar nature: in a drawing, or small 

 model, it seems as if nothing less than the most nice equili- 

 brium would be required in practice ibr its success ; but its 

 autlior has wisely anticipated such an objection by making a 

 working model on a large scale, which renders the stability 

 and advantage of the contrivance manifest. 



I 2 Til is 



