1841. 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



101 



hitioiis ill a minute, with a <i feet strolic of tlie piuup, and raising 1^ million 

 gallons in twenty-fonr hours. The third wlieel, which went into operation 

 OD the 2-lth of December. 1822, is of the same size as the second, and works 

 under the same head and fall, making 13 revolutions in a minute, with a 5 

 feet stroke of the pump, and raising li million gallons in twenty-four hours. 

 It is not doubted that the second wheel can be made to raise an equal quan- 

 tity ; thus making the whole supply upwards of 4,000,000 gallons in twenty- 

 four hours. 



The wheels are formed of wood, and put together with great strength. The 

 shafts are of iron, weighing about 5 tons each. The great size and weiglitof 

 the wheel give it a momentum which adds greatly to the regularity of its 

 motion, so necessary to preserve the pumps from injury under so heavy a 

 head as thev are required to work, which is a weight of 7900 lb. ; the height 

 92 feet. 



The following statement exhibits the extent of the works, the number of 

 tenants supplied, the quantity of water daily distributed, and the amount of 

 revenue for the years 1823 (,at which time the city only was supplied with 

 water) and 1S37 respectively. In 1823 the three wheels and pumps were in 

 operation, (jA miles of iron pipes were laid, 4,844 tenants were supplied with 

 1,016,160 gallons of water daily, and the revenue was 26.191-0.'j dollars per 

 annum. In 1837 six wheels ami pumps are in operation, 98-} miles of iron 

 pipes are laid, 19,678 tenants are supphed with 3,122,164 gallons of water 

 daily, and the revenue is 100,432'37 dollars. 



Plates 2.5 to 40 contain drawings of Dams and Locks, and .'\que- 

 ducts of various canals on the James River. 



The reports and specifications, which are published in a separate 

 work, are drawn up with considerable care, and shovv that the profes- 

 sion in America are well acquainted with the practical department of 

 civil engineering. 



RailiBay Transil ; a Letter to the President of the Board of Tradt. By 

 Francis RouBiLiAC CoNDER, C.E. London: Weale, 1841. 



In this pamphlet Mr. Conder has gone into the consideration of 

 almost every detail connected with the working of a railway, illus- 

 trating the subject by many ingenious and practical suggestions. On 

 most points we agree with Mr. Conder, although we must reserve our 

 opinion as to some other of his suggestions. To the profession this 

 pamphlet will be of great interest, as it advocates their cause with 

 ability and justice. 



A jManual of LogarUhms and Practical mathematics. Bv James 



Trotter. Edinbiu'gh : Oliver & Boyd, 1S41. 



This work is from the pen of one of the tutors in the Scotch Naval 

 and Military Academy at Edinburgh, and fully answers to its title. It 

 is one of the best and cheapest manuals with which we are ac- 

 quainted. 



The Year Book of Facts in Science and ^rt for IS 40. By the late 

 Editor of the "Arcana of Science." London: Tilt, 1841. 



We, in common with the scientific and professional press who con- 

 tribute to the Year Book of Facts, may almost be considered as inte- 

 rested wliile speaking in favour of a work to which our own columns 

 contribute ; we are therefore obliged to leave it to the judgment of 

 the public, by calling upon them to purchase and examine it for them- 

 selves. We cannot, liowever, refrain from saynig that it is a most 

 vakiable compilation, indispensable to the student and man of science. 



Gandy and Baud's Windsor Castle. London; Williams. 



A third part has appeared of this splendid work, which we lately 

 noticed. It contains a number of vahiable and interesting engravings, 

 so that the present subscribers have every reason to be gratified with 

 the exertions of the editors, which we have no doubt will be farther 

 successful in ensuring for it an extensive circulation. 



Description of a nevj Quart and Bimliel Measure, by T. N. Parker, Esq., 

 M.A., is a pa:nphlet on a new system of measures. Mr. Parker proposes that 

 the gallon shall contain 2d6 cubic inches, so as to give greater facilities in 

 calculation. 



A new coloured lithograph of Menai Bridge by Mr. Gauci, has appeared — 

 we recommend it to the attention of our readers. 



Tyas's Xationat Mop of England. — AVe have before us a proof of No. 11 

 cf this cheap and excellent map, which for clearness of execution, and accu- 



racy, we believe to be superior to any map of its scale, extant, it shows nearly 

 the whole of Sussex, with a large portion of Kent and Surrey. It is so ar- 

 ranged that every sheet is perfect in itself, or any number of sheets may be 

 joined together. 



A new edition will shortly ajipcar of Pecksum's Practical Treatise on Gas, 

 with numerous plates, corrected and adapted to the present improveil state of 

 the manufacture. 



NEW IMPROVEMENTS IN THE DAGUERREOTYPE. 



On the 4th of January, at the sitting of the Institute, M. Arago announced 

 that M. Daguerre had discovered the means of fixing the Daguerreotype pic- 

 tures in the wonderful short space of half a second, or in other words instan- 

 taneously. This quite unexpected result will henceforward enable the Da- 

 guerreotype 0]!erator to obtain the representation of living and moving ob- 

 jects, of all which animate a picture. Our streets, squares, bridges aiid rivers, 

 will not be as before, represented in the middle of the day plunged into a 

 deadly solitude, but they will show \is in reality all the animation which gives 

 interest to a picture. The admirers of the Daguerreotype, and tlicy are nu- 

 merous among the well educated p.-irt of the comnumity. are eagerly awaiting 

 the disclosure of the important improvements of M. Daguerre, and we are 

 sorry to hear that the ingenious inventor will not be able to bring his im- 

 provements before the public for a few months to come. 



We understand that the improvements consist only in shortening the time 

 of the operation, and that the eftect i)roduced will not be better than before. 

 In fact we have with infinite gratification admired the specimens ohtiiined by 

 the original plan, which are exhibited by Messrs. Claudet and Houghton, in 

 their numerous and beautiful collection, and we cannot conceive how it would 

 be possible to improve them, except by the addition of hving or moving ob- 

 jects. 



STSAM NAVIGATIOrj. 



RENNIE'S PATENT TRAPEZIUM PADDLE WHEELS. 



The object of the above patent is to do .iway with the defects of the com- 

 mon rectangular paddle wheel, arising out of its great width, weight, and in- 

 direct action, and to substitute in its place a wheel which, while it retains 

 the simplicity, obviates the defects of the common paddle wheel. The Tra- 

 pezium paddle wheel differs only from the common paddle wheel in the form 

 of its floats, which are trapezoidal or spear-shaped, and in the greater simpli- 

 city of its construction. The advantages to be derived from this form are a 

 wheel of one half the breadth, one half the weight, and one half of the 

 surface of the common recangular paddle wheel. These advantages require 

 no comment, jirovided that the form of wheel be equally efiicient, and this 

 has been proved by a series of experiments on two separate steam vessels, in 

 opposition to their usual wheels. From the peculiar form of tlie floats, they 

 enter into the water witii the pointed part of the float downwards, and thus 

 gradually arrive at their full horizontal action without shock or vibration, 

 wdule, after the stroke, they, in tlie reverse manner, quit the water without 

 raising any portion of it behind. Of course the advantages, arising out of the 

 diminished breadth of a vessel fitted with trapezium-shaped floats, will be, 

 less space occupied in a river, basin, or lock ; less surface resistance to a head 

 wind, by all the breadth of one wheel ; lighter draught of water, by the dimi- 

 nished weight ; less oscillation sideways, and consequently less liability to 

 occasion damage to the engines. The shocks and vibrations now experienced 

 by the striking of the edges of the rectangular paddle wheel against the sur- 

 face of the water, and the loss of power occasioned in consequence by the 

 oblique action of the wheels both in going into and out of the water will be 

 entirely prevented. Finally, that that the Trapezium paddle wheel will work 

 nearly as efficiently when deeply immersed as when immersed to the usual 

 depth, thus enabling the wheels to work with nearly the same facility at the 

 first as at the last part of a vessel's voyage. All these advantages are obtained 

 without the aid of wheels, eccentrics, or complicated levers of any kind, but 

 simply an alteration in the form of the floats ; H. M. ship .'African is now 

 being fitted with Trapezium paddle wheels, instead of her former rectangulaT 

 paddle wheels. 



Norlli America. — In a week or ten days (says the Kew Vorl; Herald) 

 one of the most substantial and splendid steam ships in the world 

 will be launched in this city. This steam ship, or steam frigate rather, is 

 owned by Nicholas, Emperor of Russia. .She is of immense size, and has 

 been building since last sprinc:. Her dimensions are as folluvv: — Length of 

 deck 220 feel : length of keer210 feet ; breadth 36 feet ; full depth 24i feet ; 

 tonnage 1.500. .She is eonslructed of !ive and white oak, but mostly of the 

 latter Kind, weighing, »e believe, about fitty pounds to the cubic loot. She 

 will dra«, « hen launched, ten or elevsn feet of water and no more. l!ut 

 H hen her engines, and boilers, and guns, aud all her machinery and her fuel 



