BOATS, COLLAPSABLE. 



93 



during the year at home and in foreign coun- 

 tries had been 1,504,647 copies. In the mis- 

 sionary and benevolent work of the society, 

 387 Bible distributors were employed in foreign 

 lands, and 126 colporteurs in the United States. 

 The general re-supply of the United States, 

 which had been in progress for six years, was 

 now drawing to a close. So far, it had resulted 

 in the visitation of 5,001,844 families, 607,009 

 of whom were found without the Scriptures: 

 and the supply of 427,346 families and 243,704 

 individuals in addition. Amendments to the 

 charter of the society had been procured, en- 

 larging its powers to take and hold real i 

 by bequest or devise, which had previously 

 been limited by the condition that the property 

 be alienated within three years ; and giving it 

 authority to receive gifts and bequests in trust. 



British and Foreign. The annual meeting of 

 the British and Foreign Bible Society was held 

 in London, May 2. Lord Harrowby presided. 

 The gross income of the society for the year 

 had been 250,382, and the expenditure 224.- 

 823. As more than 100,000, however, of the 

 total income was merely the price paid for the 

 books sold, the net income had really been 

 only 147,000. The whole number of Bibles 

 and" parts thereof issued had been 4,206,032, 

 or 273,354 more than in the previous year. 

 The money received was spent on foreign agen- 

 cies, on auxiliaries abroad, and on kindred 

 societies. The agents had charge of the de- 

 pots, superintended the colporteurs, watched 

 the passing through the press of the Bibles in 

 the native languages of foreign countries, and 

 sold the Scriptures all with the object of pro- 

 moting as far as possible the putting of the 

 Bible into every man's hand. Speakers at the 

 anniversary dwelt upon the benefits realized 

 in missionary lands from furnishing converts 

 with the Scriptures in their own ton_ 



BOATS, COLLAPSABLE. Scientifically con- 

 structed boats capable of being folded or col- 

 lapsed into comparatively small space are a 

 modern invention. If we ignore the rude bar- 

 baric contrivances made of the inflated skin of 

 animals and which were merely rafts or floats, it 

 may fairly be said the existing type of folding 

 boat came into being without passing through 

 the usual protracted stages of development. 

 The inventor is the Rev. E. L. Berthon, an 

 English clergyman, and to him belongs the 

 credit of having first conceived, and subse- 

 quently worked out the problem. 



In June, 1849, the " Orion," a favorite pas- 

 senger-steamer plying between Liverpool and 

 Glasgow, ran upon a sunken rock off Port Pat- 

 rick within two or three hundred yards of the 

 shore. The accident was the result of inexcus- 

 able carelessness, as the weather was clear and 

 the sea calm. The ship hung for a few minutes 

 upon the rock, and then slid off into deep wa- 

 ter, sinking at once and carrying with her about 

 200 persons of whom 150 were drowned. Only 

 one of her boats was safely launched, and that 

 was captured by the sailors and firemen. The 



others were swamped by the rush of terrified 

 passengers. Ainunir the saved was a clergy- 

 man, a friend of Mr. Berthon, who wrote and 

 published an account of his experiences. Know- 

 ing Mr. Berthon as a good draughtsman, he 

 asked him to prepare some illustrations tor the 

 book, and while making the drawings the idea 

 of a collapsable boat came into his mind. 



Then followed the usual difficulties that be- 

 set inventors. For a quarter of a century he 

 fought the battle single-handed. In his own 

 words: "Nothing but faith ami confidence in 

 the invention which a higher power put into 

 my mind, and a sense of certainty that some- 

 day it would prevail, carried me through. And 

 now I am thankful to say that these boats 

 are to be found in all parts of the world. 

 They have been adopted by the Admiralty and 

 by the India Board, and though, as hitherto, 

 ship-owners stand off as being free from all re- 

 sponsibility with regard to the lives of their 

 crews and passengers so long as they act up to 

 a most defective law, I may confidently assert 

 that the day is not far distant when this sys- 

 tem of supplementary boats will be general." 



The inventor's description of the boat is as 

 follows: " Imagine a long melon cut into thin 

 slices" (evidently the rind 

 alone is meant), " their shape 

 will be more or less lenticu- 

 lar. Now suppose these to 

 be jointed together at each 



FIG. 1. BERTHON FOLDING-BOAT, 

 MIDSHIP SECTIONS. 



1, Boat collapsed against bulwarks. 

 xl. Same boat expanded automat- 

 ically, on letting go the gripes, 

 showing arrangement of thwarts, 

 bottom boards, andgunwalestruts. 

 a a. Strung canvas cover, protect- 

 ing the boat when collapsed against 

 the bulwarks, a b, Chainwale of 

 wood, to which cover is attached. 



The shaded spaces are eight air-cells 

 between the skins, all separate and 

 water-tight. 



end so as to lie flat side by side, like the 

 leaves of a shut book, or to take any other 

 positions radiating from a central line. Now if 

 a certain number of such segments, properly 

 placed at certain distances, are connected to- 

 gether by some flexible material on their outer 

 edges, and made water-tight, the structure he- 



