184.8.J 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



155 



Such are the dimensions and structure of this extraordinary work, and 

 in regard to which, he was happy to say, the trials which have been 

 already made appear to promise every success. A load of 100 tons only 

 sunk the tube 1 inch in the centre. In regard to the calculation of 

 strength he was not able to enter on these at present for want of some of 

 the data, but expected to do so on a future occasion. 



The thanks of the Society were voted to Mr. Buchanan for his excellent 

 and instructive exposition ; and also to Mr. Stephenson, Mr. Fairbairo, 

 Mr. Clarke, and Mr. Harrison, civil engineers, for communicating the 

 information relative to the tubular bridges at Conway and Menai, and 

 ■viaduct at Berwick ; and to Mr. Miller, C.E., for allowing his elegant 

 model of the viaduct at Dunglass to be exhibited. Mr. Buchanan was at 

 the same time requested to continue his observations, and lay them before 

 the Society at a future time, which request he kindly promised to comply 

 frith. 



At the conclusion of the above paper, the following communications 

 were read : — 



1. " On a new Lubricant for Machinery" By Mr. Alexander Bryson. 



This paper described a new compound, possessing properties which 



seem to render it a better lubricant than those in use for large machinery. 

 It is composed of oil, sulphur, and vulcanised caoutchouc. 



2. " On Economising Fuel in Gas-Works." By Mr. William Kemt. 



The author states that he has made a valuable discovery in economising 



fuel, at Galashiels Gas Works, by which almost all expense of fuel is 

 saved. AVhere coal tar is burned, it has an injurious effect on the furnace 

 bars and retorts, the greatest annoyance arising from the rapid clinkering 

 up of the furnace bars, to remove which the tiremen had frequently to 

 throw water into the furnace, which caused the rapid destruction of the 

 bars. To prevent this, the idea occurred to the author, of using the 

 exhausted tan bark of the tan works, which had the desired eliecl. The 

 force-pump for injecting the tar into the furnace was next thrown aside, as 

 it was found that the dry bark absorbed tar equal to its production at the 

 works. His method is as follows : — The bark is dried and mixed with 

 the coke of the gas coal, bulk for bulk ; a pailful of tar is thrown upon it, 

 not quite so much as it will absorb, and it is then turned over. The mix- 

 lure burns with a fine clear flame, attended with less smoke than formerly ; 

 the furnace bars, by remaining unclinkered, admit the oxygen freely for 

 the combustion of the fuel. Where tan bark cannot be had, peat moss, 

 loose and dry, makes a good substitute. The author stales that in one 

 year £126 was saved on furnace coal ; and he has pledged himself that, 

 in future, not a penny shall be required for that article. 



3. " Description and Drau'inr/ of a new Plate- Holder Jor tlie Daguerreo- 

 type Camera." By Mr. Andrew K. Sparke. 



Mr. Sparke's plan is as follows: — A small mahogany box is made 

 rather larger than three times the breadth of the plate, and half an inch 

 on each end deeper ; the width is three-eighths of an inch. A hole is cut 

 in wood the size of the plate, and in the centre of the large pieces. In 

 this box a veneer frame is made with a place for the plate and glass, on a 

 line with each other ; this is pulled backward and forward by a piece of 

 ■wire or string, through a hole made at the coiner. By this arrangement 

 the plate is instantly exposed to the lenses, and will be found admirably 

 adapted for taking moving objects. It saves the trouble of shifting the 

 ground glass frame for the plate-holder, and the consequent risk of moving 

 the camera, so annoying in the old plan. The plate is also exactly the 

 same distance from the lenses as the glass. For a camera not achromatic, 

 the ground part of the glass may be placed outwards, so that the plate 

 ■will be the thickness of the glass nearer the lenses than the image seen on 

 the ground glass, and consequently nearer or in the chemical ray. 



INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS. 



March 28, and April 4. — Joshua Field, Esq., President, in the Chair. 

 The paper read was " The Engineering of the Rhine and the Moselle." 

 By Mr. G. B. W. Jackson, Assoc. Inst. C.E. 



This communication was written during a short visit made to Holland, 

 for the purpose of inspecting personally the works with which the author 

 had become familiar in the writings of Beaudemoudin, Vandeu Bergh, 

 Delafontalnes, Hibbert, Krayenholf, Ockhart, and Wiebeking. It com- 

 menced with tracing the geographical course of the Rhine from its source 

 on the Badus, in the canton of the Grisons, to its numerous outfalls into 

 the sea. It then treated at considerable length the geological character ot 

 the country through which the river and its branches thus traversed. The 

 ancient works, as far back as the time of the Romans, were then briefly 

 described : and the general state of the bed of the river, with the compa- 

 rative levels, the inclination and the velocity of the stream, at the com- 

 mencement of the modern works, were then laid down in a tabular form, 

 as points of data ; and then the capability of the Rhine for forming banks 

 by warping, or depositing the matter held in suspension, was discussed. 

 The remainder of the tiist part of the paper was then occupied by descrip- 

 tions of the modes of straightening the bed of the river, and of construct- 

 ing the dams, weirs, division arms, spurs, and shore works, and the method 



of blasting the rocks, which latter considerably impeded the course of the 

 stream. Our limits will not permit us to follow the details of these works, 

 which dili'er so essentially from any in our own country, but the whole 

 proceedings appeared to be given with such precision, that the paper, 

 when it is published at length, with the copious details with which it was 

 illustrated, will form a most interesting portion of the minutes of proceed- 

 ings. 



The second part of the paper consisted to considerable extent of a trans- 

 lation of an account of the spurs, groynes, and other works on the Moselle, 

 for restricting the dimensions of the bed of that river, and increasing the 

 depth of water, so as to enable the navigation to be carried on, which 

 would otherwise be averted in the low-water seasons. It was shown, 

 that to eflTect this, numerous arms of the river had been dammed across, 

 and allowed to silt up ; the course had been straightened, elbows had been 

 cut off and the convex shores, after being silted up by deposit between the 

 groynes, were defended by arming of fascines, &c. Division banks had 

 been established for the inflowing rivulets, so as to carry the gravel to a 

 greater distance down the stream. Rocks also were removed by powder, 

 and weneral improvements to such an extent were executed, that the river 

 was comparatively under good control. 



The account of the Rhine was then resumed, and, after detailing the va- 

 rious plans that had been proposed for ameliorating its course, giving nu- 

 merous interesting and valuable tables of Blanken's and Bolstra's expe- 

 riments as to the tides, the inclination of the bed of the various rivers, the 

 duration of the ebb and flow, and average height of the river at the time 

 of new and full moon, the height of various dykes above the extraordinary 

 flood-line, kc, the paper finished with these general views :— " On looking 

 at the map of Holland, and tracing its various streams, it certainly does 

 not appear singular that frequent stoppages should take place in that 

 country, whilst such occurrences are comparatively rare in Germany ; for, 

 as long as the Rhine retains its single course, as at Emmerick, no 

 obstacfes, excepting elbows, stay the progress of the current seawards ; 

 but, as soon as it divides at the Waal and Pannerden Canal, the evil com- 

 mences and increases, according to the number of arms and channels 

 lower down. It is generally agreed that a river should have as few out- 

 lets as possible, in order to allow it the more etVectually to clear itself; and 

 that the tide should be admitted as far as possible, whilst at the same time, 

 the action of the winds should be diminished ; again, that the more the 

 surface yvater of any river is obstructed, the more quickly the sand will 

 accumulate ; and also that, if a cut be made, it is usual for ice stoppages 

 to take place below it, so as to raise the water-level above ; and it is also 

 agreed, that if a cut be made, as capacious as the river itself, or be per- 

 mitted to increase to that extent, it will soon get beyond control, whilst the 

 sand will accumulate rapidly— and that when openings exist in dykes, the 

 ice gets into eddies, loses its velocity, and by degrees closes up the pas- 

 saTe below the opening, so as to raise the water above. The question, 

 therefore, to be solved with regard to Holland and the system followed 

 there, in order to prevent breaches in dykes, and to save the better part of the 

 country (taking into account its weak, marshy soil, and its incapacity to 

 withstand any great force), is whether it be the better plan to relieve the 

 pressure on the dykes, by cuts and new channels, and local floodings, at 

 the expense of increasing the number of ice stoppages; and, at the same 

 time diminishing the velocity in the main rivers, thereby greatly augment- 

 ing its liability to accumulating sand. It is true, as already stated, that 

 the rivers are at present in such a condition, that it must be very expensive 

 to effect anything of importance ; but the question is of such vital import- 

 ance to the port of Rotterdam, and the certainty of the mouth of the Meuse 

 at the Brielle in the course of time closing up like that at KaUvyk, it no 

 improvement be attempted, is so clear, that it is very much to be regretted 

 some steps have not been taken ere this to prevent so great a flow of water 

 from passing out by the Hollands diep to Helloet." 



The author directs the attention of the Institution to this subject, and 

 .rives the following points for the consideration of the members :— I hat 

 The object to be aimed at, in any steps which might be adopted for improv- 

 ing the Meuse at Rotterdam, should be toprotectand strengthen theshores 

 and dykes likely to be operated upon by the alterations ; to straighten all 

 the curves on the Leek, so as to lessen chances of ice stoppages ; to sepa- 

 rate the Waal and Meuse waters as much as possible, and to lead oil he 

 former, together with the Leek, into the sea by the Brielle ; to narrow the 

 Bresbosch channel (now divided) into one, regulating the quantity of water , 

 to close the Krabbe, the Noord, and the Spry, with sluice gates ; and 

 for the purpose of widening the outlet, to join the Island of Rosenborg to 

 the main land at Vlaardingen-thereby causing the ebb water to act upon 

 this island, and with increased velocity and an additional quantity ot 

 water, attempting to remove the bar and shoals. 



Jl,ril 18.—" Observations on the Resistances to Railway Trains at dtf- 

 ferent Velocities." By Mr. D. Gooch, of the Great Western Railway. 



For the purpose of performing the experiments, a dynamometer carriage 

 was constructed at Swindon, in which all the results required were registerea 



upon a large scale, on the same roll of paper, thus exhibiting at one' 

 and in the same period of time, the tractive power exerted upon ttie 



view, 

 train, 



and the force and dirTction oTthe'windT the registration fJ^'i'^f^'J^f 

 made upon the paper at every sixteenth part of a mile and the t""^ was re- 

 gistered in correspondence with the distance traversed during every fifth part 

 of a second. The dynamometer spring used ^'^^.^ ^.n. long and verj 

 carefully arranged. It was only necessary to count the number of seco""?^' 

 or factions of a second, in one or more of the distance divisions, ana the 



