British ‘Association for the Advancement of Setence. 35 
“This return is further confirmed by the fact, that in the year 
preceding the inquiry, there were apprehended 1,000 females of a 
particular description. 
‘“‘ Another return has been placed before me, which, though not 
absolutely bearing on the subject, is not without interest. Of 419 
individuals now in the gaol, 216 profess the religious creed of 
Church Protestants, 174 Roman Catholics, 8 are Methodists, 17 
are Presbyterians, 2 are Unitarians, 1 Baptist, and 1 Independent. 
141 can neither read nor write, 59 read imperfectly, 38 read well, 
127 read and write imperfectly, and 56 read and write well.” 
Amount of property stolen, about one million sterling annually. 
Keels of Ships.—Mr. Lang addressed the Section on his improve- 
ments in Ship-building. He fills up the floor perfectly solid, puts 
in a kelson and a keel in the usual way, bolting them well to- 
gether, and caulking all up. On each side of this keel he fixes 
another broad and flat one, and over these another, all secured in 
a peculiar way, by dovetailing, but so as one may come off with- 
out bringing off the other, and the whole without damaging the 
floor ; over all he puts a false keel. The depth from the inside 
of the floor to the bottom of the false keel is about twice the depth 
of the kelson, and the breadth of the three keels under the floor 
a little more than the depth from the top of the kelson to the bot- 
tom of the false keel. He caulks with Borrodaile’s felt, observing 
that, when the seam is caulked in the usual way, outside and 
inside, the oakum does not reach the centre, but leaves a hollow, 
where damp lodges, to the destruction of the timbers. Thi 
pian has, it appeared, been adopted by the English and by foreign 
governments. It was, Mr. Lang admitted, rather more expensive 
than that usually adopted in building merchant-ships. 
Safety of Steam Vessels—Mr. Williams then offered some ob- 
servations, as a practical man merely, on a method for preventing 
accident the collision of steam vessels, which was in prac- 
tice in the vessels belonging to the city of Dublin Steam Packet 
Company. 'The danger at present arose from this,—that a local 
injury, as in the late instance of the Apollo, admitted the water 
a the whole body of the vessel. ‘The improvement would 
the water to the section in which the injury took place. 
it consisted:-i in dividing the vessel into five water-tight ecompart- 
ments, by iron divisions or bulk-heads, the only objection with 
respect to which arose from the difficulty of fixing them in a 
