08 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[March, 



either ornlly or in writing, tlie knowledge which they have collected; so that 

 the records of tlic lii!,tiliiliiin may be unjiaraUuled for tlie extent and correct, 

 ncss of the information whicli tliey contain. 



The conncil have cndeavonred from time to time to direct attcjition to 

 snlijccts on whicli it was conceived comrannieations were needed or desiralilc, 

 hy proposing snclisnlijects as objects for the preminms, placed at the dis|>osal 

 of the council by the nnniificence of tlie late president. The commiinications 

 .sent in compliance with this invitation have not been nnmcrons. Two, liow- 

 ever, — one by your associate Mr. Jones, on the AVestminster Sewage, and the 

 other hy Mr. Hood, on M'amiing and Ventilating, — seemed to call for some 

 r.ppcial mark of distinction. 



The comiiiiinicalion liy Mr. Jones is of the most elahorate and costly descrip- 

 lion. (See ,/onrnn/, vol. 2, p. .31 1). The council conceived tliat, in awarding 

 to Mr. Jones a Telford medal in silver .and 'Jll guineas for this laborious com- 

 munication, they were bestowing a suitable mark of approb.ition on the author 

 of a record which is nearly unjiaralleled, and must be of great value as a 

 source of information in all future works of this nature, when other, and par- 

 ti'-nlarly foreign, cities carry into efl'ecl a system of drainage, in which they 

 are at present so delieient. 



The conncil cannot pass from this subject without expressing the obliga- 

 tions which the Institution is under to the cliairman and the commissioners 

 nf the sewers of the Westminster district. On its being intimated to them 

 that tlie council wished some account and record of the work over which 

 they preside, permission was immediately given for any person desirous of 

 preparing such account to have free access to all the documents in their pos- 

 session relating to this subject, and to make such extracts or copies there- 

 from as could in any way contribute towards this object. 



The communication by Mr. llnod contains a detailed account of the prin- 

 riples on which the salubrity of the atmosphere in crowded rooms depends, 

 and the various methods which have been adopted for warming ami ventila- 

 tion. {See Journal, \ol. 2, \). -iCiO). The importance of ventilation, and the 

 success which has attended the adoption of mechanical means in the manu- 

 facturing districts, are subjects worthy the attention of all who study the 

 lieallh of those who, from choice or necessity, arc exposed to the generally 

 iinwholesoine atmosphere of crowded apartmenls. This subject is of the 

 highest imjiortance to tin; manufacturing poor of this country, who are com- 

 pelled to work in crowded rooms at high temperatures. The council are 

 aware that much has been done towards this object in some of the large cot- 

 ton works of tireat I3ritain, and they hope ere long to obtain some detailed 

 account of the means hy which this has been accomplished, and the results 

 which have ensued. 



The conncil have also awarded a Telford medal in silver to your associate, 

 Charles Wye Williams, for his communication on tlie Properties, Uses, and 

 Manufacture of Turf Coke and Peat Uesin Fuel j and to Mr. Edward Woods, 

 for his communication on Locomotive Engines. 



The various applications of peat as a fuel had been repeatedly the subject 

 of discussion at the meetings of the Institution, and this communication may 

 (as has been already noticed) be attributed to the discussions then going on. 

 {See Journal, vol. 2, p. Hi). 



The communication by Mr. Edward Woods, published in the second volnine of 

 the Transactions, willahvaysbearaprominent place among the records of practi- 

 cal science, as one of the earliest and most accurate details on the actual working 

 of locomotive engines. Tlic first communication was received early in the 

 session of lrt?,S. (See Journal, Vol. 1 , (i. l.'')9.) The author was tliouglit capa- 

 ble of adding so much to his already valuable communication, tliat the coun- 

 cil referred it back to him for this jinrpose, and it was not received in the 

 form in which it appears in your Transactions till after the premiums for that 

 session were avvanled. lint Ibis communication (notwithstanding the interval 

 since it was laid before the meeting) will prob.ibly be fresh in the recollection 

 of most lU'escnt, from its giving an accurate account of the jirogrcss of the 

 locomotive engines on the Ijiverpnol anil Manchester Railway from the open- 

 ing of that important work. The experience of engineers had at that time 

 furnished them with but little knowledge as to what were the most essential 

 requisites in railway engines, and the advance of knowledge, as slnnvii by the 

 history of the locomotive engine on this railway, is a most interesting and in- 

 Etructive lesson to every one who would study the progress of practical science 

 and improvement, (ircat alterations were found necessary in the strength of the 

 jiarts, in the weight of the engines, in the road, and the number of wheels. 

 The first engines were grailually ailapted to the necessities of the ease, and 

 the arrangements then resorteil to as necessary expedients have now been 

 adopted into the regular and uniform jnacticc. Ilesides the extreme interest 

 of that which may be termed the history of these improvements, the eomiiiu- 

 nieation is replete with theoretical principles as to the working of locomo- 

 tives, and the advantages ami disadvantages incident to peculiar practical 

 adaptations. It would exceed the limits of this rcjiort to ilo more on the 

 present occasion than brieHy to state that this paper contains extended re- 

 marks on the relative advantages of four or six wheels, of inside or outside 

 framings, of crank axles or outside crank pins, of coupled or uncoiiided en- 

 gines. The council would point out this paper to the junior memlicrs of the 

 profession, as an example of how great a service may l)e rendered hy simply 

 recording what passes under their daily observation and experience. 



The council have also adjudged a Telford medal in bronze and books to the 

 value of three guineas to Mr. It. W. Mylne, for his communication on the 

 Well sunk at the reservoir of the New River Company at the Hainpstead-road, 

 {see Journal, yol, '2, p. 311); to Lieutenant Pollock, for his drawings and 



description of the Coffer Dam iit M'estminster Bridge, (see Journal, vol. 2, p. 

 .111); and to Mr. Redman, for his drawhigs and account of How Uridge. 



Among the other communications of the session, the council cannot, on the 

 ]nesent occasion, omit to notice those of your inenibcr, Mr. Parkes. His 

 communication on tlie E\'aporation of M'ater from Stc;im Hollers, (see Jour- 

 nal, vol. 1, p. 1 70), for which a Telford medal in silver was awarded during the 

 ineceding session, and the interesting discussions to which it gave rise, are 

 too well known rcipiire further comment. But gi'cat as were the benelits 

 conferred on practical science by the facts there recorded, they have been 

 much surpassed by the subsequent labours of this author. In continuation 

 of his subject, you received early in the session the first part of a communi- 

 cation on Steam Boilers, (see Journal, vol. 2, p. 22.')) ; and at the close of the 

 session, the second |iart, treating of .Steam Engines. Before Mr. Parkes was 

 induced to turn his attention to the preparation of these conimunieations, no 

 attempt had been made to bring together, in one connected view, the various 

 facts which had been ascertained. The economy of the Cornish system was 

 indisputable ; but to what it was to lie referred was involved in some ob- 

 scurity. It was reserved for this communication to call attention to certain 

 quantities and relations which exerted a peculiar intlncnce over the results ; 

 and which, lieiiig rightly ascertained, were at once indicative or exponential 

 of the character of the boiler. If it be found that, in one class of boiler, the 

 same quantity of coal is burnt eight times as rapidly as in another class — that 

 the quantity consumed on each square foot of one grate is twenty-seven times 

 that on the grate of another — that the quantity of water evaporated bears 

 some definite relation to the quantity of heated surface — and that there is 

 twelve times more evaporated hy each foot of heated surface in one class of 

 boiler than in another — and finally, that the quantity of water evaporated by 

 a given weight of fuel is in one class double the quantity evaporated in 

 another, — we have arrived at some definite relations whereby to compare 

 boilers of dift'erent kinds with each other. To these definite quantities and 

 relations, the author, with apparent propriety, assigns the term ■' exponents ;" 

 and these being compared together for different boilers, their respective merits 

 as evaporative vessels are readily perceived. Mr. Parkes has also called the 

 attention of engineers to the effect of the element time, that is, the period of 

 the detention of the heat about the boiler. The importance of attending to 

 this cannot be too strongly insisted on ; as it would appear from these state- 

 ments, that boilers being compared with each other, in respect of their eva- 

 porative economy, are nearly inversely as the rate of combustion. Attention 

 is also called to the fact, that there are actions tending to the destruction of 

 the boiler entirely independent of the tenqieraturc of the fire, and which may 

 be designated hy the term " intensity of calorific action." Of their nature wc 

 know nothing, but the durability of different boilers, under different systems 

 of practice, affords some means of comparing the intensity of these actions. 



Mr. Parkes having, in the first part of the subject, thus pointed out the 

 distinctive features of the ditferent classes of boilers as evaporative vessels, 

 proceeds, in his subsequent and concluding communication, to consider the 

 distribution and practical apjilication of the steam in different classes of 

 steam engines. And for this jmrpose, he is led to consider the best practical 

 measure of the dynamic efficiency of steam — the methods employed to deter- 

 mine the power of engines — the measures of effect — the expenditure of 

 power — the in'oportion of boilers to engines- — the standanl measure of duty — 

 the constituent heat of steam — the locomotive engine — the blast and resist- 

 ance occasioned by it — the momentum of the engine and train, as exhibiting 

 the whole mechanical etfort exerted by the steam — the relative expenditure 

 of power for a given efi'ect by fixed and locomotive non-coudensiiig engines. 

 This hare enumeration of the principal matters in the second communication 

 will give some, though a very inadequate, idea of the magnitude of the task 

 undei'taken by Mr. Parkes, for the communication is accompanied by elaho- 

 rate and extensive tables, exhibiting the results of th« facts which he has 

 collected and used in the course of his inquiiy, and it may confidently be as- 

 serted that a more laborious task has rarely been undertaken or accomplished 

 by any one individual than the series of communications thus brought before 

 the Institution. 



It will be one of the earliest duties of the succeeding council to consider 

 in what manner the sense of the great benefits conferred on this department 

 of jiractical science can most a|ipi"0)n'iately be testified. 



The council also received, at the close of last session, from your member, 

 Mr. Leslie, a most valuable communication on the Docks and Harbour of 

 Dundee. This is one of the records on which the Institution sets the highest 

 value, being the detaileil account of an executed work of great extent. It is 

 not, in its present form, well adapted for being laid before the meetings; hut 

 on its publication, which will take jdace very shortly, the Institution will 

 have an 0|)portuiiity of judging of the high value which it possesses. 



In acknowledging, with gratitude, the numerous and valuable iirescnts 

 made to the Institution during the past year, the council would call the at- 

 tention of the members generally to the want still existing in the library of 

 works of reference on general scientific subjects not immediately connected 

 with engineering, and express a hope that such wants may be sup|)lied by 

 that liberality to which the Institution is .already so deeply indebted. The 

 collection of models also requires many additions to render it as complete as 

 the council could wish, and it is only by the wants of the Institution being 

 const.antly borne in mind by all who arc i nterestcd in the subject, that such 

 a collection can be formed as shall be worthy of the Society. 



Several societies have made an exchange of Transactions with the Institu- 

 tion, and from the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Philosophical Society of 



