1846.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



175 



What the ancients thoaght of this artificial sea may be gathered from 

 Strabo, who says, " This nomos (Fajum) is the most remarkable of all, as 

 well for its natural fertility and beauty as for the art exhibited in its con- 

 itruction. It comprises also the so-called Moeris Lake, almost as large 

 as an inland sea, and of the sea-colour ; its banks, also, have the appear- 

 ance of sea shores. It is capable by its size and depth, of containing, 

 at the time of the flooding of the Nile, its abundant waters, without over- 

 aowing the inhabited and fertile land ; at the receding of the river, the 

 anperabundant waters return by the same channel, by one of the two em- 

 bouchures; while so much as is required for irrigation, both in the lake 

 and channel still remains." Herodotus states its circumference to be up- 

 wards of 2000 stadia, equivalent therefore to the whole extent of the 

 Egyptian coast on the Mediterranean, an assertion which Chevalier Bunsen 

 considers to be correct. 



In this interesting locality, the tombs of Moeris and his wife, in the 

 Fajum, north of Crocodilopolis, are yet to be adverted to. At present, 

 only two pyramidal structures are to be seen ; but the German traveller, 

 Wansleb, had seen (I6G4), on these very pedestals, the fragment of a 

 colossal statue of akiDg,in asitting position. Wilkinson recognized, in these 

 rwo ruins, the Pyramids seen by Herodotus ; and Perring, though igno- 

 rant of the researches of Wansleb, had guessed, with great tact, the whole 

 arrangement. He assumes the ruin to be the foundation of a truncated Py- 

 ramid. According to Pococke, the ruin with the destroyed king's statue 

 was called by the natives Har'm, the Pyramid ; according to Jomard, 

 rigl Faraun, the feet of Pharaoh. Mr. Perring. on the other hand, told 

 Dr. Bunsen orally, that other people still called the two pediments 

 Senem, the statues ; or in Arabic, Musthamel, the " bathed ones ;" whence 

 the former architect supposes that the pedestals, and even the lower parts 

 of the statues, were once bathed by the floods of that fertilizing irrigation, 

 which the great king had secured for his land and people. Our author 

 eoncludes his notice of this slupendous artificial lake in the following terms ; 



" Thus Moeris's statue surveyed the land which, from bog and desert, he 

 bad changed into blooming fields, and converted (for thousands of years to 

 come) into the garden of Egypt. A work lay before and around him, the 

 e<]nal of which for magnitude and utility the world does not know. Wall 

 and dyke remain even now, like a work of nature, after ages of neglect; 

 even nature seems to have been surpassed, for the Nile found, through the 

 Lake Moeris, an eflJui from his stream-bed and no longer flowed into the 

 ses— thus supply and utilization were both calculated. This structure, 

 nearly five thousand years' old, would alone prove the art, skill, and science 

 of the old Pharaoh dynasty to remotest posterity, if there were no annals 

 to testify of it." 



" Such, therefore, was King Moeris's work and sepulchre. When (be 

 floods of the Nile, augmented by those of the lake, covered the land, his 

 and his queen's statues appeared above the waters, and seemed to the be- 

 holders like the tutelary deities of the spot." 



Railways. Their Use, Progress, and Construction. By Robert Ritchie, 

 Associateof the Institution of Civil Engineers. Longman, 1846. 16mo. 

 pp. 444. Woodcuts. 



The object of this book is to give a general historical account of the im- 

 provements which have gradually taken place in the construction of rail- 

 ways, and the application of the motive power upon them from the time of 

 their first introduction. The work is divided into three principal parts— 

 the construction of the railway— the motive power— and the causes of rail- 

 way accidents. Under the first of these heads the writer shows how the 

 first idea of wheel tracks of stone and iron tramways, became gradually 

 matured and improved, till it led to the construction of railways as 

 the universal means of land transit. This account is followed by some 

 general views of the rigidity of iron rails, their forms and weight on difi'er- 

 eot railways, and the different modes of fixing them by transverse sleepers, 

 longitudinal sleepers, and stone blocks set at intervals ; with a comparison 

 of the merits of each system. The author generally states the arguments 

 on each side of a controverted opinion with remarkable fairness, but in the 

 present instance, though he has given very fully the arguments in favour 

 of longitudinal bearers, he has not devoted quite enough space to the con- 

 sideration which the advocates of transverse sleepers urge in reply. 



The various shapes of the wheel flanges, the methods of passing cross- 

 ings by means of points or switches, the construction of turn-tables, &c., 

 are next detailed. Under the heads of retaining walls and viaducts, ac- 

 counts are given of the size and conetruction of some of the principal of 

 tiese works hitherto executed. 



Under the head of motive power of railways, we have the history of 

 the different improvements of locomotive engines, from the time of the ex- 

 periments on the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. In 

 considering the advantages and disadvantages of the atmospheric railways, 

 the author is careful to state facts only and the opinions of others, without 

 coming to any determinate opinion as to either the locomotive or atmosphe- 

 ric system, except that injwhich every impartial and competent person will 

 concur, namely, that " it must be left to time to test their comparative ad- 

 vantages, fur at the present time the accounts of the latter are conflicting 

 and contradictory." 



To give a better idea of the book than can be obtained from mere de- 

 scription, we have selected the following extract, making however a few 

 omissions. The subject is the various forms and dimensions of iron 

 rails : — 



"Mr. Barlow came to the conclusion, that the strength of a bar should be 

 double that of the mean strain or load. In his first report, he thought from 

 10 to 20 percent, would be sufficient ; that is, for a 12-ton engine, as the 

 weight is at present distributed, a strength of 7 tons would be ample provi- 

 sion ; and with greater accuracy of construction, a less strength would suf- 

 fice ; or rather, allowing the same strength, an engine of 14 or 15 tons might 

 be passed over with greater confidence. Thus, for 12 tons' weight, with a 

 velocity of about 35 miles per hour, 7 tons would allow a surplus strength 

 of 16 per cent, beyond double the mean strain. The deductions from bis 

 experiments led him to recommend that the section of an iron rail for a 5- 

 feet bearing, with strength 7 tons, should not exceed 5 inches in depth ; 

 that the head ought not to be less than 2-25 lb. per yard, and be 1 inch in 

 depth ; that the whole weight at the sections should be 67-4 lb. per yard ; 

 the thickness of the middle rib, -85 inch; depth of bottom web, 1-66 inch ; 

 and breadth of ditto, IJ inch ; that the deflection of such a rail, with 3 tone, 

 would be '064 inch. 



" For bearings of less width, he did not reduce the weight or size of the 

 head, but kept it at the same section, decreasing the whole weight and depth 

 of the rail : thus for a strength 7 tons, with a 3-feet bearing, the whole 

 weight was 51-4 lb., whole depth 4| inches, depth of bottom web 1 inch, 

 breadth 1-25 inch, thickness of middle rib -6 inch, dtflection with 3 tons 

 was '024 inch. 



" Notwithstanding that Professor Barlow expressed a strong opiniofl ia 

 favour of the single-flanched rail over the double, — that he could see no ad- 

 vantage the latter possessed to compensate for its actual and obvious defects, 

 that he considered it inferior in strength and convenience in fixing, and that 

 the advantage it was supposed to possess, namely, that it might be turned 

 when the upper table was worn down, was impracticable, and that he saw 

 no advantage in the broad bearing, — still the double-headed rail, in practice, 

 has almost entirely superseded the single one : whether the adoption of the 

 double one arises from affording greater convenience to the rail layer, and 

 facilities for keying it, and the advantage of having the power of reversing 

 it, and selecting the best side, or from the manifest advantage of a broad 

 bearing to the rail, — this form is now generally preferred. 



"The Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company has of recent years 

 adopted a double parallel rail of a peculiar section ; not admitting, however, 

 of the power of turning it. The object to be attained in adopting this 

 shape, is stated to be, that by having the part of the rail upon which the 

 flanch of the wheel acts, of the same outline as the flanch itself, greater 

 strength is given to the rail, while the other edge of the rail is lightened. 

 These rails have been laid down at 60 and 75 lb. per yard. 



" The more common and useful form of a double parallel rail, is when the 

 segmental outline is the same at top and bottom : for although it cannot be 

 denied that the weight of the bottom flanch does not add proportionably to 

 the strength of the rail, nor even that the power of turning it is at 

 all times practicable, — yet there cannot be any doubt that this form, for 

 railways constructed on separate blocks and sleepers, presents many advan- 

 tages ; and besides, as the cost is nearly the same for a rail with the top and 

 bottom flanches alike, with that where the bottom web is somewhat lighter, 

 no hesitation can exist in preferring the former, however much theoretical 

 deductions may mystify the subject. 



" A double parallel rail, weighing 75 lb. per yard, has been laid down on 

 the London and Birmingham, Eastern Counties, South Eastern, Edinburgh 

 and Glasgow, and many other railways. The whole depth is 5 inches, the 

 top and base are the same sections, 2'5 inchest, the thickness of middle rib 

 is about { of an inch, or less. 



" A double parallel rail has been used upon the Grand Junction and other 

 railways, weighing 62 lb. per yard ; whole depth, 45 inches. 



" A double parallel rail, about 65 lb. per yard, of which the whole depth 

 is about 4^ inches, has been laid down oa some parts of the London and 

 Birmingham railway. 



" A 75 lb. rail was laid down on the Edinburgh and Glasgow railway. 

 The inner side of the chair being curved, admits of ample space for the key 

 to wedge the rail firmly. 



" The rail and chair which are now laying down on the North British 

 railway are about 70 lb. per yard, in 12 and 16 feet lengths. The top and 

 base are different sections, probably adopted with a view of saving in the 

 weight, but presenting no corresponding advantages. The key> or wedges 

 are made of oak, and are small ia size. 



