1844.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



69 



memoirs of scientific societies (chiefly the Royal Society of Edinburgh), he 

 was the author of nearly the whole of the articles on pure matheniati^ci in 

 tlie fourth and subsequent editions of the " Encycloixidia Britannica," and 

 likewise of the greater part of those in Brewster's " Edinl)urgh Encyclopiedia." 

 His health having given way so far as to render him unable to discharge his 

 duties in the University, he resigned his chair in 1838. During the re- 

 mainder of his life, although an invahd, his scientific ardour suffered no 

 abatement, for while confined to his chamber, he composed tlie memoir on 

 equilibrated curves, as well as a work intituled " Geometrical Theorems and 

 Analytical Formula;," which was published in 1839. His disposition was 

 amialile and benevolent ; he was beloved by his friends, and respected by his 

 fellow-citizens ; and he died, universally regretted, at Edinburgh, on the 

 28th of April, 1843, ia his seventy-fifth year. 

 Mb. Buddlb. 



Mr John Buddie, M. Inst. C.E., was born at Kyo, near Lanchester, in the 

 comuy of Durham, in 1773, and resided there nearly twenty years, when he 

 removed to Wallsend with his father, who had then attained considerable 

 eminence as a colliery viewer. The elder Mr. Buddie was a man of consider- 

 able attainments in mathematics; he was a correspondent of Huttoa, Emer- 

 son, and other eminent men, and contributed many papers to the scientific 

 publications of that period. He was remarkable for the systematic manner 

 in which he conducted his professional avocations; and to him we are iri- 

 dehted for the introduction of iron tubbing for sinking shafts, which, it is 

 believed, was first used at the Wallsend colliery. 



At an early age Mr. John Buddie evinced au attachment for active occupa- 

 tion, and an eager pursuit of experimental knowledge. These studies and 

 jiursnits were encouraged by his father, from «hom he derived nearly the 

 whole of his education, having only been at school during one year when 

 very young. He became very early the assistant of his father as a colliery 

 viewer; and on one occasion, when, as usual in cases of emergency, the 

 viewers of different collieries were called together, to consult on the means of 

 stopping an extensive fire of gas in the Washington pits, he suggested the 

 trial of a jet of water moved rapidly, alternately, across tlie flame, in the 

 same manner as in his boyish experiments he had cut off the flame of gas 

 vTith a knife • the plan was adopted, and being carried into elfect by himself, 

 was perfectly successful. After the death of the elder Mr. Buddie, his son 

 succeeded him in the management of the Wallsend colliery, and there, in 

 1810, he introduced those extensive improvements in ventilation which have 

 been 'so much imitated." He was engaged as the viewer and consulting en- 

 gineer of a number of the principal collieries in the North of Eagland. His 

 experience in all the details of the coal trade led to his being frequently 

 examined as a witness in Parliamentary Committees ; and he was also em- 

 ployed as consulting engineer on railways and general engineering questions. 

 In 1838 he was appointed one of the Dean Forest Mining Commissioners, 

 and his tact and experience materially aided in the successful completion of 

 their labours. As he advanced in life he became the proprietor of coal 

 mines, as well as of landed, flipping, and other property, which, under 

 jirudent management, produced a considerable income ; indeed, when it is 

 remembered that he was a bachelor, and tliat liis habits were very simple, it 

 is surprising tiiat lie did not accumulate greater wealth. He was very liberal, 

 and his charities were extensive. He took great interest in the local scientific 

 societies, and, even amidst his numerous engagements, found time to com- 

 municate to them some valuable papers. To all who have visited the coal- 

 mines of the North of England, or have taken any interest in the histoiy of 

 coal-mining, the name of Mr. John Buddie is familiar. He was active, steady, 

 and unremitting in the discharge of duties which were attended at all times 

 witli much personal fatigue, and frequently with imminent danger. He was 

 extremely exact in his extensive correspondence, and kept a diary, which may 

 probably furnish materials for a detailed and useful memoir. In private life 

 he was distinguished by many excellent qualities and social virtues. Among 

 other accomplishments he was a superior musician ; and his retentive me- 

 mory, and happy mode of explaining and illustrating his subject, rendered 

 him as agreeable a companion as he was a valuable friend. His liabits were 

 extremely simple, but his house for nearly half a century was the resort of 

 most of the scientific strangers who visited the North of England, and his 

 hospitality was unbounded. Whether viewed in his professional or private 

 character, he has left solid claims to admiration and esteem, and his death 

 may justly be regard"ed as a puldic loss. He died on the 10th of October, 

 1843, at the age of seventy years, and was interred in the ground wiiicli he 

 had given for a cemetery, and where a church had been erected, on his estate 

 at Benwell, near Newcastle. 



Mr. Penn. 



Mr. John Penn, M. Inst. C.E., was born near Taunton, in Somersetshire, 

 in the year 1770, and was apprenticed to a millwright at Bridgewater, whence 

 he trav'elled to Bristol, and worked there as an operative ; he soon became 

 the foreman of an important work, when only twenty-two years of age, and 

 was celebrated for his theoretical and practical knowledge of the forms of 

 the teeth of wheels, which branch of construction was, at that period, only 

 imperfectly understood by mechanics. He removed to London about the 

 year 1793, and after working at and being a foreman in several works, he 

 commenced business on his own account in 1801. His attention was at first 



2 TheMusiumof Economic Geology, Craig's Court, contains a model which e«m- 

 pliHes ttiis syBtera of ventilation. 



chiefly directed to the construction of flour-mills, in which he made many 

 improvements, particularly in the substitution of metal, for wood framing. 

 In consequence of the injudicious proceedings of the Millwright's Union, he 

 was induced to oppose a determined resistance to their demands, and by the 

 introduction of self-acting tools, and the instructions given by him to another 

 class of workmen, the millwrights lost many of the privileges they had pre- 

 viously enjoyed. The tread-mills for prisons' were first constructed at Mr. 

 Penn's works, and latterly he (in conjunction with bis son) manufactured 

 many marine engines, particularly those with oscillating cylinders." Mr. 

 Penn was well versed in general science ; he was an amateur astronomer, 

 and possessed some valuable instruments; much of his leisure time was de- 

 voted to horticultural pursuits, which led to several improvements in the 

 methods of heating conservatories and forcing houses. He died suddenly on 

 the Cth June, 1843, in the 73rd year of his age, having enjoyed for many 

 years the confidence and esteem of a large circle of friends. 



Mr. Aher. 



Mr. David Aher, M. Inst. C.E., was born in the year 1780; he attained 

 very early a proficiency in physical science, and at fifteen years of age com- 

 menced his studies as a civil engineer. In 1803, he surveyed and superin- 

 tended several of the works of the Grand Canal Company (Ireland), and sub- 

 sequently directed the collieries in the County Kilkenny and Queen's County, 

 an occupation for which he was well suited, from his knowledge of geology, 

 a science at that time but little cultivated in Ireland. By his judicious 

 direction of borings and other trials, discoveries were made which have 

 proved very valuable to the neighbouring coal proprietors. His inventions 

 and improvements in mining and boring machinery (which have been gene- 

 rally adopted), are remarkable for the mechanical ingenuity displayed in 

 them, for the simplicity of their construction, and for their practical utility. 

 In the years 1810, 1811, and 1812, he was engaged in making experiments 

 and reports for the Commissioners appointed by Government, to inquiie into 

 the nature and extent of the " Bogs in Ireland, and their capability of being 

 made available for cultivation, or other purposes." While engaged in the 

 direction of the collieries, he laid out nearly all the new lines of road whicii 

 have been made through the County Kilkenny and neighbourhood, and also 

 the Great Leinster and Munster Railway, from Dublin to Cork, by Kilkenny, 

 Clonmel, Cahir, &c. In 1840 he met with some disappointments and losses, 

 which weighed heavily on his mind, and were the piincijial cause of the ill- 

 ness which terminated his life. He died in the 6.^nd year of his age, respecti d 

 for his high professional attainments and strict integrity of character, and 

 regretted by all who knew him. 



Mr. Ransom. 



Mr. Robert Gill Ranson, Assoc. Inst. C. E., was a manufacturer of paper at 

 Ipswich in 1810 he introduced an improved mode of sizing and drying ma- 

 chine-made paper, substituting for the ordinary tedious process of tub-sizing 

 (in which it was requisite that the paper should be previously cut into sheets), 

 a method by which he was enabled to size and dry writing or drawing papers, 

 in the lengths made by Fourdrinier's machine: by this process, the time 

 occupied in the manufacture was reduced, and the uncertainty ot the effect 

 of the weather in drying was avoided. In consequence of a long illness, pre- 

 ceding his decease, this invention was not extensively carried out, but it ap- 

 pears now probable that it will be generally adopted. Mr. Ranson only be- 

 came an Associate of the Institution in 1842, but he demonstrated the interest 

 be felt in its welfare, by exhibiting at the President's conversazione a sheet 

 of drawing paper 400 feet in length, which had been completed by his jiro- 

 cess from the state of rags, iu the short space of 48 hours. He was higlily 

 respected by his friends, and his decease, at the age of 51 years, was much 

 regretted. 



» Designed by Mr. William Cubilt, V.P. in 1818. 

 4 First patented by ftlr. Aaron Qfanby, iu ldl6. 



PROCEEDINGS OT SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 



INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS. 



Ped. 6. — The Presidbnt in the Chair. 

 The first paper read was by Mr. S. B. Moody; it described "a water 

 wheel" constructed by Mr. W. Fairiiairn, from the designs of Mr. B. 

 Albano, and erected at the Flax Mills in Lorabardy. The chief pecu- 

 liarities of this wheel consisted in the introduction of the tension prin- 

 ciple for the arms and the ventilation |)rinciple fur the buckets. The use 

 of wrought iron bars as arms and braces on the tension principle, dimi- 

 nished the weight, as fewer centres and arms were required, and conse- 

 quently a lighter shaft could also be employed; repairs were less frequent, 

 aud also were not so expensive as with cast iron arms. In the old form of 

 the buckets, the air entering with the water prevented them from filling, 

 but, by the introduction of an inner sheathing, forming a space between 

 it and' the sole plate, the air was permitted to pass off freely, and the 

 buckets, being thus ventilated, were enabled to be more completely filled, 

 and the eft'ective power of the wheel was increased. Mr. Albano explained 

 its construction, and stated its speed was about Oft. per second; and that 



