742 QUETELET, LAMBERT A. J. 



RAILWAY BRIDGE. 



tained only fifty responses, but as the two Democratic 

 members had just oefore answered on the roll-call, 

 which was interrupted, he assumed it right to an- 

 nounce that 54 meuibera had answered to their 

 names. 



Those who remained after Mr. Wiltz and his friends 

 withdrew, elected Hahn Speaker by acclamation and 

 proceeded to the business of the Legislature. There 

 was no subsequent roll-call by which the number of 

 those members whose names were returned by the 

 Returning Board, and who still remained present at 

 these deliberations, could be determined. Your com- 

 mittee have not been able to agree upon any recom- 



mendation ; but upon the situation in Louisiana, as it 

 appeared before us, we are all agreed. 



CHARLES FOSTER, 

 WM. WALTER PHELPS, 

 January 14, 1875. CLARKSON A. POTTER. 

 The evidence upon which the sub-committee base 

 their conclusions is not yet being written out. It will 

 be submitted hereafter, if it shall be deemed desirable. 

 The committee themselves voted to adopt the re- 

 port, and also to report the same to the House, with 

 the recommendation that the same be printed and 

 recommitted. For the committee : 



GEORGE F. HOAR, Chairman, 



Q 



QUETELET, LAMBERT ADOLPHE JACQUES, a 

 Belgian astronomer and statistician ; born in 

 Ghent, February 22, 1796 ; died at Brussels, 

 February 16, 1874. He developed from early 

 childhood a remarkable aptitude for mathe- 

 matical studies, and at the age of eighteen, 

 having completed his university course, he 

 was appointed Professor of Mathematics in the 

 College of Ghent, and, five years later, was 

 called to the same professorship in the Athe- 

 naeum of Brussels. In 1824 King William sent 

 him to Paris, to' complete his astronomical 

 studies, and in 1826 he reported from that city 

 a plan, which had met the approval of the 

 learned astronomers of Paris, for an observatory 

 at Brussels, which was commenced that year, 

 and with the construction and direction of 

 which he was charged. He remained its di- 

 rector till his death. From 1827 to 1829 he 

 visited the observatories of England, Scotland, 

 Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, and, his ob- 

 servatory being completed, settled himself to 

 his life-work. He employed his leisure mo- 

 ments in the preparation of statistical and 

 astronomical works, of which he published a 

 large number. In 1841 he was appointed 

 President of the Central Commission of Statis- 

 tics. In 1820 he had been elected a member 

 of the Royal Academy of Belgium, and not 

 long afterward was chosen its perpetual secre- 

 tary. He was a corresponding member of the 

 French Institute, in the departments of Moral 



and Political Sciences, and a member of most 

 of the scientific societies and orders of the Con- 

 tinental states. He had published : " Ele- 

 mentary As'tronomy " (1826) ; revised and en- 

 larged as " The Elements of Astronomy " in 

 1847 ; " Statistical Researches on the King- 

 dom of the Netherlands " (1830) ; " Plan of a 

 a Law for Public Instruction in Belgium " 

 (1832) ; "Researches on the Births and Deaths 

 and the Population of Belgium " (1832) ; 

 " Criminal Statistics of Belgium " (1832) ; 

 " On the Influence of the Seasons on the Mor- 

 tality at Different Ages " (1838) ; " Letters ad- 

 dressed to the Duke of Saxe Coburg and Gotha, 

 on the Application of the Theory of Probabili- 

 ties to the Moral and Political Sciences (1846) ; 

 " On the Social System and the Laws which 

 govern it " (1848) ; " On Moral Statistics and 

 the Principles which ought to form their Ba- 

 sis " (1848) ; " Annual Reports of the Royal 

 Observatory of Brussels," 4to volumes (1833- 

 1866); "History of Mathematical and Physical 

 Sciences among the Belgians " (1865) ; " Inter- 

 national Statistics " (with M. Heuschling), 4to 

 (1865) ; "Mathematical and Physical Sciences 

 among the Belgians at the Beginning of the 

 Nineteenth Century" (1866); "Meteorology 

 of Belgium compared with that of the Globe " 

 (1867). He had also furnished numerous pa- 

 pers and memoirs for the " Belgian Physical 

 and Mathematical Correspondence," for the 

 "Annals of the Observatory," etc., etc. 



RAILWAY BRIDGE. A bridge of novel 

 construction, for the passage of railway -trains 

 without hindering the navigation of the river, 

 has been built for the Milwaukee & St. Paul 

 Railroad at Prairie Du Chien, Wis. The bridge 

 is constructed on piles driven into the bed of 

 the river, over which rests a single railroad 

 track. The length of the bridge is 7,200 feet. 

 There are two pontoon draws. The one over 

 the eastern channel consists of three pontoons, 

 connected lengthwise firmly, and representing 

 a distance of 396 feet. The draw over the 

 western channel consists of but one pontoon, 



408 feet long, breadth of 28 feet, height of 4 

 feet, and draught of 11 inches. When trains 

 are passing over, the draught of both draws in- 

 creases to about 18 inches. The varying height 

 of the planes between the pile-bridge and the 

 pontoons is overcome by aprons, or movable 

 tracks, which are adjusted by means of power- 

 ful screws and movable blocks. The connec- 

 tion between the ends of these aprons and the 

 track on the bridge is a simple device, counter- 

 balanced by equal weights, so that one man 

 clamps and unclamps the end of the pontoon 

 when swung into or. out of position. The 



