196 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[May, 



The action of manm-es is principally chemical, but the soil requires also 

 mechanical assistance, one of the principal of which is a good system of 

 drainage. This has met with a powerful advocate in Mr. Smith, of Deanston. 

 Draining carries off all superfluous water, which would otherwise keep the 

 soil cold, dilute the food of the plant, and give rise to noxious emanations. 

 On the other hand, when it is removed, the air penetrates to the roots, in- 

 creases the fermentation in the soil, and renders stiff clay tractable. But its 

 benetils are not confined to stiff lands, being sometimes advisable in sandy 

 soils, particularly where springs e.xist. The! old plan consists of digging a 

 deep trench and filling it with large stones. Lately a system has been preva- 

 lent of laying down earthenware tiles of various shapes ; this has been'carried 

 out largely in the neighbourhood of Tunbridge and Penshurst. Very good 

 tiles may be obtained at from 20s. to 24s. per 1000. Houghing is a well- 

 acknowledgeJ means of improving the soil; it acts by breaking it up, ad- 

 milting air, and so assisting the decomposition of organic and Jinorganic 

 matters ; nitrates are very abundantly formed in new ploughed land. It also 

 acts by mixing the soil and subsoil, especially if one be clay and the other 

 sand. Sometimes, however, this is said to be injurious. Johnston states that 

 llie farmers in Durham are afraid to turn up one foot of subsoil, partly on ac- 

 count of the injurious effects of the iron which has come from the plough. 

 This bad ell'ecl, however, lasts but a short time, as it soon [becomes peroxid- 

 ized, and is then inert. 



Diametrically opposite to draining, but at times equally beneficial, is irri- 

 galion. It is of advantage in dry soils, or in those which are thoroughly 

 drained. It acts by bringing finely divided matter and salts to the plant. 

 Paring and burning are frequently resorted to with advantage, returning the 

 ashes to the land. Clay, when burnt, and converted into brick, acts like sand, 

 and where sand cannot be obtained, it is a good substitute. 



The alternation of crops is always looked upon as beneficial, and the four 

 course system is the one usually adopted. But when it is considered, that 

 turnips flourish best in a sandy soil, whilst wheat likes a clayey one, it is 

 evident that to grow these on the same land cannot be the perfection of agri- 

 culture. It is now supposed that by attention to agricultural chemistry, the 

 same crop may be grown continuously on the same land, by the careful sup- 

 ply of proper manures. But to obtain this result, chemistry must go hand- 

 in-hand with agriculture, and the man of experience must not be ashamed of 

 calling in the assistance of the man of science. Without going the length that 

 some enthusiasts have gone, all must acknowledge that chemistry and agri- 

 culture have come into close contact, that already the former has been of ser- 

 vice to the latter, and promises far more than it has yet done. Great success 

 has undoubtedly been obtained by the application of these principles, and if 

 failure has sometimes occurred, it is because all the circumstances that must 

 be taken into consideration are not yet fully understood. Many eiperimen- 

 ters. however, have met with very satisfactory results, and have publ'sbed 

 accounts of their experiments, amongst the most recent of whom is Mr. 

 Biggs, of Overton, who has just issued a pamphlet detailing his conclusions. 

 When the deductions of science first begin to be applied to the arts, they in- 

 variably meet with many obstacles ; sometimes arising from the obstinacy of 

 those who are devoted to the old methods, sometimes from the unwarrantable 

 confidence of those who adopt the new. But the farmer who will carefully 

 weigh and consider the light that science throws on his path, and who will 

 subject the investigations of the philosopher to a well-arranged practical 

 test, is the one who will reap the golden harvest of success. 



THE EXPERIMENTAL BRIO SQUADRON. 

 The whole of the new class 12.gun brigs are now off the stocks, and are being brought 

 forward for commission with all possible despatch. The following table shows ttie exact 

 dimensions of each brig ; — 



I I Flying 



Daring. Osprey. Fish 



Length between perpendiculars 

 Length of keel fur tonnage . . 



Breadth, exti erne 



Breadth for tonnage . . . . 

 Breadth moulded . • . . . 

 Depth in hold 



Burden in tons 







Ft. In. 



101 

 80 61 

 31 10 

 31 ti 

 31 

 13 6 

 91 



424 

 94 



Ft. In. 



103 



81 S 



33 M 



31 Oi 



31 6; 



14 3 



76 



444 



94 



Mutine. 



Espiegle 



Ft. In. 



101 114 

 HI 2 

 31 11 

 31 6 

 31 

 13 7 



m 



428 

 94 



Ft. 1 

 104 



83 



31 



31 



31 



13 

 57 

 422 

 94 



Ft. In. 



104 



83 1; 



31 4 



31 



30 6 



15 2 



a 



425 

 94 



Tlie object in building the above five brigs is to produce a class of vessels superior to the 

 old 10-gun bri5, and at the s-'me time to illustrate the comparative merits of the different 

 principles which their respective constructors hold in the science of naval architecture. 



\VHiTEn.\VEN. — In consequence of the contemplated extension of the 

 Carlisle and Workington Railway to Whitehaven, the old established steam company of 

 the latter town have given orders for a lirst-rate iron steam vessel, to be built under the 

 dirertioti of Mr. Grantham, by which it is contemplated that the journsy by sea will be 

 accomplished in little more than six hours, and by railway to Carlisle in two hours more. 

 Such increased facilities of communication with these extensive mining and agricultural 

 districts, must prove of the utmost advantage to the population. Means of easy access 

 will thus be afforded to the western portion of the lake district. Messrs. Fawcett, 

 Preston, & Co., are to construct the engines of the new vessel, and tliey are to be made 

 on the direct acting principle, now generally adopted in the most improved vessels. 



REGISTER OF NEW PATENTS. 



(Under this head we propose to give abstracts of the specifications of all the most im- 

 portant patents as they are enrolled. If any additional information be required as to any 

 patent, the same may be obtaiued by applying to Mr. LAXTON at the Office of this 

 JOURNAL.) 



IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING. 



John Kebele, of Glasgow, Gentleman, for "certain Improvements in pro- 

 pelling."— Granted November 2, 1843; Enrolled May 2, 1S44. 



This invention consists in the peculiar mode of driving an endless chain or 

 band, incases where two wheels, fixed on each side of the boat, are employed 

 for the purpose of propelling. It is well known that an endless chain pass- 

 ing over two wheels fixed on each side of the boat with floats or paddle 

 boards attached has before been employed, but in such cases the periphery 

 of the wheels has been provided wilh teeth or projections, which teeth are 

 made to pass between the links of the chain for the purpose of taking hold 

 and driving such chains; this plan of giving motion to ei.dless chains ap- 

 pears from the specification to be objectionable and impracticable. The ob- 

 ject of this invention is therefore to drive the endless chain by means of the 

 friction of contact of the two surfaces; that is, by the friction of the surface 

 or periphery of the driving wheel and the surface of the chain, for this pur- 

 pose there is on the axis of the main or crank shaft, firmly keyed, a wheel, 

 and at some distance from this wheel there is another of equal diameter fixed 

 by its axis to a sliding frame attached to the side of the boat ; round these 

 wheels is passed the endless chain, which consists of a series of plates or bars 

 of iron forming the links which are combined together by means of bolts 

 passing through holes formed in the ends thereof, these bolls also pass 

 through holes formed in the end of a diagonal frame, to which are bolted the 

 paddle boards or floats. The chains being passed round the periphery of the 

 u heels, can be distended to any required extent by means of the sliding frame, 

 and in order to prevent the chains from running off the wheels, the same are 

 provided ttith flanges. The second part of the invention consists in the ap- 

 plication of a metallic band or belt formed of a plate or plates of metal, to 

 which arc to be attached by any convenient means the floats or paddle 

 boards. 



The inventor claims the mode of driving endless chains to which the floats 

 or paddle boards are attached by means of surface driving of wheels, (that is 

 to say, by means of the friction of contact), instead of using toothed wheels; 

 also the mode of giving motion to endless bands composed of metallic plates- 



PURIFYING JMETALS. 



Joseph Dukinse St.\gg, of Middleton, in Teesdale, Durham, Manager of 

 Smelting Works, for "Anew and improved plan of collecting, condensing and 

 purifying the fumes of lead, copper, and other ores, and metals, and also the par' 

 tides of such ores, and metals arising or produced from the roasting or manufaC' 

 tare thereof, and also the noxious smoke, gases, .'tails and acids, soluble and ab- 

 sorbable in water, generated in treating and working such ores and nietals.^^ — 

 Granted December 2, 1843 ; Enrolled May 2, 1844. 



This invention consists in causing the fumes of lead, copper, and other ores 

 and also the particles of such ores, &c., to pass through water contained in 

 an air-light vessel, which vessel above the surface of water is divested of air 

 and kept constantly exhausted by means of an air-pump or other mechanical 

 contrivance. For this purpose the inventor causes the fumes and vapours to 

 pass through a flue or chimney, to which is attached a pipe bent down at the 

 end at right angles, and made to dip a few inches below the surface of the 

 water contained in the cistern, which may be of any required depth. This 

 cistern, which may be constructed of wood sufficiently strung to withstand 

 the atmospheric pressure, is divided by means of partitions into compart- 

 ments, each alternate partition commencing at the lop of ihe cistern and de- 

 scending to within a few inches of the bottom, the intermediate ones com- 

 mencing at the bottom of the cistern and ascending near to the top. The pipe 

 through which the fumes or vapours pass from the chimney, enters the cis- 

 tern at one end, and at the opposite end there is a pipe leailing to an ex- 

 hausting apparatus, which consists of a double acting air pump worked by a 

 small steam engine. 



The action of this apparatus is as follows : motion being imparled to the 

 air pump, the cistern will be exhausted of atr and will have the effect of creat- 

 ing a dtaft in the chimney sufficient for clearing the manufactory of the 

 fumes generated, which fumes nr vapours are caused to pass over and under 

 the several partitions, and through the water contained in the cistern, which 

 water will be greatly agitated, and have the effect of purifying, and condens- 

 ing or detaining such portions of other vapours as are soluble and absorbable 

 in water. .Such portions as are not absorbable, passing off through the air 

 pump into the atmosphere in a comparitively pure state, those portions left 

 in the cistern can afterwards be resraelted, and whatever valuable salts or 

 acids are held in solution in the water can be separated by the process of 

 distillation. 



