392 



Iron Railway Bridge. — Editorial Notices. 



Vol. XI 



kind attention divested of this insane terror, 

 and became perfectly quiet and useful ; but 

 the other three bid defiance to all means of 

 cure, and to coercion among the rest. If 

 sufficient attention were paid to the subject, 

 many of the obstinate caprices and inexpli- 

 cable aversions which we can neither con- 

 quer nor change, would be classed under the 

 term insanity. There cannot be a more re- 

 markable analogy than that which sometimes 

 exists between the insanity of man and these 

 singularly capricious fancies in animals. The 

 subject is worthy of attention. Has the prin- 

 ciple of hereditary predisposition been ap- 

 plied to any of these anomalies] — Youatt 

 on the Horse. 



Extensive Iron Railway Bridge and 

 Viaduct. 



An iron bridge, in size and magnificence 

 perhaps never before equalled, is about to be 

 erected, with a corresponding viaduct across 

 the Tyne, from Gateshead to Newcastle-upon- 

 Tyne, f6r the Newcastle and Berwick rail- 

 way. The iron work contract was let at 

 York; there were a good many tenders, but 

 Messrs. Hawks Crawshay and Sons, of Gates- 

 head, were the successful competitors; Messrs 

 Losh, Wilson and Bell, of the Walker iron 

 works, and Mr. John Abbott & Co., of the 

 Gateshead iron works, will also take part 

 with them in the construction of the work — 

 Messrs. Hawks taking the castings for the 

 approaches, and the other firms the arches 

 for the bridge. The contractors are to 

 make, supply, and erect all the cast and 

 wrought iron and wood work for bridge and 

 approaches, according to the designs, and 

 under the instructions of R. Stephenson, 

 Esq.; it is to consist of six cast iron circular 

 arches, with a curved approach at each end, 

 and will, in fact, be a double bridge ; the 

 railroad on the summit, and a carriage road 

 and two foot paths suspended from the arches. 

 The span of the arches will be 125 feet, sup- 

 ported on pillars 21^ feet high, and 14 inches 

 square, and the approaches from both New- 

 castle and Gateshead will be 251 feet in 

 length, and 'precisely similar. Two courses 

 of three inch planking will be placed be- 

 neath the rails, between which will be a 

 layer of Borrowdale's patent asphalted felt, 

 to render them waier proof; and the carriage 

 road beneath will be paved with wood to 

 prevent vibration, and the foot path planked. 

 Every arch will be completely erected on 

 the contractors' premises by itself, when the 

 engineer will inspect and test its strength 

 and fitness. The quantity of iron required 

 will be about 6,000 tons, and the contract is 

 stated to be £120,000. The entire cost, in- 

 clusive of lands and buildings, will be £300, 



000, and it is to be finished, so as to be avail- 

 able for public traffic by the 1st of August, 

 1848. — London Mining Journal. 



A Brilliant Whitewash. 



Take half a bushel of nice, unslacked 

 lime, slake it with boiling water, covering 

 it during the process to keep in the steam. 

 Strain the liquor through a fine sieve or 

 strainer, and add to it a peck of clean salt, 

 previously dissolved in warm water; three 

 pounds of ground rice, ground to thin paste 

 and stirred and boiled hot; half a pound of 

 powdered Spanish whiting, and a pound of 

 clean glue, which has been previously dis- 

 solved by first soaking it well, and then 

 hanging it over a slow fire in a small kettle 

 within a large one, filled with water. Add 

 five gallons of hot water to the whole mix- 

 ture; stir it well and let it stand a few days 

 covered from the dirt. It should be put on 

 quite hot; for this purpose, it can be kept in 

 a kettle on a portable furnace. It is said 

 that about one pint of this mixture will 

 cover a square yard upon the outside of a 

 house if properly applied. Brushes more or 

 less small may be used according to the 

 neatness of the job required. It retains its 

 brilliancy for many years. There is nothing 

 of the kind that will compare with it either 

 for inside or outside walls. — Exchange pa- 

 per. 



To Protect Grain from Rats. — An in- 

 dividual of much practical experience, states 

 that green elder deposited in and about the 

 mows of hay and grain, will prove an efl^ect- 

 ual preventive against the depredations of 

 mice and rats. These animals are frequent- 

 ly very destructive in their ravages; and if 

 a remedy so simple and easy of attainment 

 is efficacious, it deserves to be known and 

 remembered by all. VVe have long known 

 that the leaves of the common mullen will 

 drive rats from their haunts. There is some- 

 thing in the odor of this plant that is dis- 

 gusting to their ratships, as was the leek to 

 the ancient Pistol; they cannot "abide it." 



THE FARMERS' CABINET, 



AND 



A'ULJi'Eil.CA.N HSRD-BOOK. 



Philadelphia, Fourth Month, 1847. 



In a letter from Fred. Watts, of Carlisle, dated the 

 21st ult.,he says:— 



" In this vicinity the appearance of the wheat crop 

 is very bad. Within my recollection it has never, at 

 this season, been more unpromising. This is attiibuted 

 to two causes: — the seed sown last fall was unsound; 

 it was injured by the extreme heat which happened 

 after the season of blossoming last year, and much of 



