.S7A' IV11.I.IAM SIEMENS, l-.k.S. 57 



pressure is relieved towards the end of each stroke, has been again 

 recognised and insisted upon by Le Chatelier and others who have 

 shown the necessity of a slightly superheated cylinder, in order to 

 realise the expansive force of steam. 



The result has been a reduction in the consumption of fuel in 

 our best marine engines from G or 8 to below 3 Ibs. per gross 

 indicated horse power. 



It is a hopeful circumstance, that during the next Session of 

 Parliament the whole question of the Patent Laws is likely to be 

 inquired into by a Special Committee, who, it is to be hoped, will 

 act decidedly in the general interest, without being influenced by 

 special or professional claims. They will have it in their power 

 to render the Patent Office an educational institution of the 

 highest order. 



In viewing the latest achievements of engineering science, two 

 works strike the imagination chiefly by their exceeding magnitude, 

 and by the influence they are likely to exercise upon the traffic of 

 the world. The first of these is the Great Pacific Railway, which, 

 in passing through vast regions hitherto inaccessible to civilized 

 man, and over formidable mountain chains, joins California with 

 the Atlantic States of the Great American Eepublic. The second 

 is the Suez Shipping Canal, which, notwithstanding adverse 

 prognostications and serious difficulties, will be opened very 

 shortly to the commerce of the world. These works must greatly 

 extend the range of commercial enterprise in the North Pacific 

 and Indian Seas. The new waterway to India will, owing to the 

 difficult navigation of the Red Sea, be in effect only available for 

 ships propelled by steam, and will give a stimulus to that branch 

 of engineering. 



Telegraph communication with America has been rendered 

 more secure against interruption by the successful submersion of 

 the French Transatlantic Cable. On the other hand, telegraphic 

 communication with India still remains in a very unsatisfactory 

 condition, owing to imperfect lines and divided administration. 

 To supply a remedy for this public evil, the Indo-European 

 Telegraph Company will shortly open its special lines for Indian 

 correspondence. In Northern Russia the construction of a land 

 line is far advanced to connect St. Petersburg!! with the mouth of 

 the Amour River, on completion of which only a submarine link 



