148 



NATURE 



[June 18, 1891 



bogies to take the curves. The water is carried in side 

 tanks, and the fuel on the top of the boiler and at the side. 

 The author will observe that there is no central pivot and 

 no tender; the engine is a tank engine ; and that the 

 whole of its weight is good for adhesion. The Fairlie 

 engines at work on the Mexican Railway weigh in order 

 about 92 tons. The total wheel base is 32 feet 5 inches, 

 and the rigid wheel base of the bogie is 8 feet 3 inches. 



Chapter iii. includes narrow gauge railways, as well as 

 the Fell, Rigi, Pilatus, and Abt mountain railways. The 

 use of a narrow gauge railway in place of the standard 

 gauge is due to questions of cost of construction by 

 diminishing the width of the line, and also enabling 

 sharper curves to be adopted. Narrow gauge railways 

 now in use were years ago of ample capacity for the traffic 

 then available, but are now a continual source of trouble 

 where the traffic has increased beyond their capacity. 

 In some cases, where an increase of gauge is impossible 

 owing to the cost, the rolling stock has to be designed 

 to suit the abnormal requirements, and the locomotives 

 recently designed have to be made to suit the conditions, 

 and are working under adverse conditions from a 

 locomotive engineer's point of view. The cost of a break 

 of gauge is a serious matter, involving as it does the trans- 

 shipment of passengers and goods, as well as two classes 

 of rolling stock. In India, for instance, the metre gauge 

 has given place to the broad gauge of 5 feet 6 inches in 

 many cases, in order to obtain through communication 

 without break of gauge. The author gives an excellent 

 description of the various mountain railways named, and 

 they are without doubt monuments of engineering daring 

 and skill. 



In chapter iv. an excellent description is given of the 

 piercing of the Alps. To the rivalry of European Powers, 

 each anxious to command a route, are due the several 

 Alpine tunnels ; from the design and execution of the Mont 

 Cenis tunnel to the more recent schemes west of the St. 

 Gothard. Had the author told us a little more about the 

 difficulties encountered, he would have added considerably 

 to the interest. 



Tunnels under the Alps naturally give place to sub- 

 aqueous tunnels in the sequence of subject-matter in the 

 volume. The Mersey and Severn tunnels are described, 

 and the tremendous difficulties encountered in the execu- 

 tion of the latter undertaking are pointed out. We also 

 find a description of several subaqueous tunnels in the 

 States, including the Sarnia tunnel recently opened under 

 the St. Clair river, to connect the Grand Trunk Railway 

 of Canada at Sarnia with the United States Railways at 

 Port Huron. The chapter closes with an account of the 

 proposed Channel Tunnel. 



The progress and principles of modern bridge 

 construction are treated in chapter vi. This gives a 

 good account of the great advance made during the 

 last fifty years in this important branch of engineering. 

 Wrought-iron gradually superseded cast-iron in bridge 

 construction, and steel has again superseded it. The 

 manufacture of steel has now reached a stage in which 

 there are no uncertainties in its quality. The earliest 

 instance of the adoption of steel for a bridge is the St. 

 Louis Bridge, over the Mississippi, constructed in 1 867-74, 

 and the most recent example is, of course, the cantilever 

 bridge, with two spans of 1700 feet, over the Firth of 

 NO. 1 129, VOL. 44] 



Forth, The author gives the great Indian bridge over 

 the Rori branch of the River Indus, at Sukkur, very little 

 notice, and does scant justice to this "achievement in 

 engineering," certainly a monument to its designer. De- 

 signed by Sir Alexander M. Rendel, K.C.I. E.,M.Inst.C.E., 

 and built by, and erected on the works of Messrs. 

 Westwood, Baillie, and Co , of London, this bridge was 

 taken to pieces and shipped to India, where it was 

 re-erected. The chapter closes with an account of the 

 proposed bridge over the Channel. 



Submarine mining and blasting are treated in the chapter 

 that follows. This chapter is interesting mainly owing to 

 a detailed description of the operations for improving the 

 entrance to New York Harbour by the removal of the 

 obstructions at Hell Gate and Hallett's reef. With refer- 

 ence to the explosion at the latter site, it is interesting to 

 observe that the earth-wave produced was carefully re- 

 corded at various places, and the rate of transmission of the 

 shock was found to be more rapid and more uniform when 

 the shock passed northwards through rock, than when it 

 passed through drift in an easterly direction. In travel- 

 ling through drift, it reached Goat Island, a distance of 

 145 miles, in 59 seconds, and Harvard College Obser- 

 vatory, 182I miles, in 3 minutes 40 seconds; and in 

 travelling through rock, it reached West Point, 42J miles 

 distant, in 11 seconds, and Litchfield Observatory, 174J 

 miles away, in 45^ seconds. 



Chapters ix. to xv. deal with that branch of engineering 

 which may be roughly included under the title of " Har- 

 bours and Docks." In a previous work by the author, 

 bearing this title, and reviewed in these columns, this 

 subject was amply dealt with, and it will now be sufficient 

 to state that the present chapters are well up to the 

 standard of excellence of his previous work. We find 

 an interesting description of the Manchester Ship Canal 

 works in these chapters— a work rapidly nearing comple- 

 tion, and one which, if successful, will be the forerunner 

 of many similar works in this country. An illustration 

 is given, showing the progress of the works forming the 

 Eastham Locks, viewed from the Eastham end. This 

 illustration gives a very good idea of the magnitude of 

 the undertaking. Another Manchester undertaking occu- 

 pies considerable space in this work, viz. the Manchester 

 waterworks, and more particularly the Thirlmere scheme. 

 The author tells us that the eventual maximum daily 

 supply of 50 million gallons of water will be conveyed to 

 Manchester by an aqueduct, or conduit, about 100 miles 

 long. Another similar undertaking is also discussed ; in 

 the Liverpool Vyrnwy scheme we find how engineers 

 have solved the difficulty of getting a pure water supply 

 for that city. 



The volume concludes with an account of the Eddy- 

 stone Lighthouse and the Eiffel Tower. 



The frontispiece is a portrait of Robert Stephenson, a 

 very appropriate one for such a work. His name will ever 

 be associated with the development of railways, as the 

 author remarks ; and he might also have pointed out that 

 the railway has been in many cases the reason for many 

 " achievements in engineering " being called into exist- 

 ence. 



Taken as a whole, this work is a very interesting 

 one. It is well written, and the author may be con- 

 gratulated on having succeeded in his endeavour to de- 



