1841.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



327 



Mr. James Hutchison explained, that at the time it was resolved to t;.ke 

 powers to widen the liver to a g^reat extent by the last Kill. Mr. Walker, upon 

 making out the plans, informed them that if the hreadih of the river was nt 

 any time extended according to these plans, they must make up their minds 

 to the maintaining of it by dredging being immense. 



After a conversational discussion of .some length, it was finally resolved 

 that Mr. Bald's modified plans should be adopted, and, as we understood, 

 that operations should be commenced immediately. — Glasgow Argus. 



STEAM NAVIGATION. 



The Iron fVar Steamer Phhgethon. — We perceive, by the Calcutta papers 

 brought by the India mail, that this vessel, which was built by Mr. John 

 Laird, of North Birkenhead, for the East India Company, has arrived at that 

 port. She is about 500 tons measurement, armed with two 32-pounders and 

 other small guns, and is exactly the same size and model as the former iron 

 war steamer, the Nemesis. She was to sail for Chiia about the middle of 

 June, to join tlie expedition. It was reported in the Bombay papers, that 

 two armed steamers, the Ariadne and Medusa, both built by Mr. Laird, 

 carrying each two 26-poiinders, would be ordered to China : they would 

 make an effective flotilla of four powerful iron armed steamers attached to the 

 expedition, and, from the services rendered by the Nemesis, are likely to 

 prove a great acquisition, llie following extract of a letter, dated Ca'cutta, 

 June 5, gives an account of the Phlegethon : — " I am too full of business to 

 write at length just now ; but you will be delighted to hear we arrived at 

 this place on the 22nd of last month, as sound in hull, boilers, and engines as 

 when we left England. M*e have had some severe trials, and a large share of 

 stormy bad weather. The Phlegethon, in bad weather, has surpassed my 

 most sanguine expectations, and having gone over 17.157 miles without strain- 

 ing a rivet, will I consider quite carry out the principle that these sort of 

 vessels can navigate in security between England and India." — Liverpool 

 Alhion. 



The Steam Ship " Admiral."— In these days of steam triumphs, we have 

 frequently had to record the achievements of mechanic art, as applied to 

 steam-ships of leviathan dimensions, as well as of the consummate skill dis- 

 played in the performance and management, and we remember few that have 

 possessed greater claim to public attention than the splendid steamer Admiral 

 now running between Liverpool and Glasgow, the same line on which the 

 Achilles^ Commodore, Acteeon. City of Glasgow, and Princess Royal, all splendid 

 steamers, are employed. The Admiral is a vessel well worthy of her name 

 and lineage, and, whether the size and beauty of the ship, her excellent ac- 

 commodations, or the great power and perfection of her machinery be the 

 object of admiration, it must be admitted, that in each of these departments, 

 she has never been surpassed. The engines supplied to this vessel are of un- 

 usual power and beauty of construction, fitted up with expansion gear, and 

 possessing all the latest improvements: they were produced at the Glasgow 

 Vulcan Foundry, and are of 200 horse power. It is a matter of great interest 

 to w itness the cleanliness and order al» ays observed in ihe engine-room, and 

 the great care and attention of the engineers are particularly worthy of no- 

 tice for skill and sobriety : neither is the grand desideratum to a landsman 

 (roomy accommodation) to be forgotten. There r.re 107 sleeping berths, all 

 of the most ample dimensions, a limited number of which are divided ofiinto 

 state apartments. The grand salo- n, around which these state apartments 

 are arranged, is a magnificent room, and unites extreme comfort with orna- 

 ment ; on either side of it tables are ranged with elegant seats of richly 

 carved oak, uniform with the chase panelling and groined roof. The entire 

 fittings are of the most costly detcriiuion, and the cuisine is excellent and 

 cheap. The range of the Admiral's deck is 220 feet, it is perfectly flush, and 

 forms a beautiful and unbroken promenade. The Admiral is a vessel of the 

 same class and under control of the same bu.siuess management at Liverpool 

 as the Halifax line of steamers, and the same system of speed, punctuality, 

 and good order which has obtained an exalted reputation for the Ailantic 

 steamers prevails here, and has met w ith equal success. — Mornivg Herald. 



RUSCELLANEA. 



ELECTRO-MAGNETIC PRINTING. 



On Monday, 2nd ult., the first pubic exhibition of Mr. Bains's electro- 

 •magnetic printing-machine took place in the Lecture-room of the Royal 

 iPolytechnic Institution. 



The apparatus consists of a dial-plate, inscribed with the al|habet and 

 numerals, wiih a revolv ng han.l, workeil by ordinary cbjck-work. On the 

 other side of the room stood the important portion of the invention— that 

 which furnished in type the communicati(,n to be sent forth from the dial- 

 plate already described. Between thes ■ two machines a connexion (capable 

 of being extended in practice to any length) bv means of wire conductors, 

 communicating with two electromagnets placed on a frame, and connected 

 with a cylinder covered with paper, upon which the type uas to leave its im- 

 pression — an horizontal wlicel, in which types to correspond with the letters 

 and figures on the dial were fixed. This wheel was ingeniously brought in 

 contact with an inking roller, and these three portions of the machine were 

 all brought into motion horizontally. 



The party tlireciing the communicaiii.n stands at the dial-pla'c first de- 

 scribed, and fixes a peg under the letter desired to be communicated. The 

 index or revolving hand performs its rotat. on until its progress is arrested 



by coming in contact with the |iog. A small trig-er is then pidled, the gal- 

 vanic iioncr is then brought to bear by the aid <pf the communicaiing wires 

 upon the two electro-magnets, with their machinery on the second frame, 

 and the letter thus communicated is printed upon the paper afiixed to the 

 cylinder. 



The operations excited universal admiration, and tlie machine itself is well 

 worthy the attention of the curious, for though at present it may fail as a 

 speedy means of communicating in'ormation in print, still by the adoption 

 of a code of signals (by which one letter or character might be construed to 

 denote a sentence or describe a subject) the invention might be made ex- 

 tremely valuable in the times in which we live. 



Electro-magnetic Exhibition. — A very interesting exhibition has been lately 

 opened at No. 8, St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh. It consists of several 

 working models of diflerent machines, such as a tuming-laihe, a printing- 

 machine, a saw-mill, and a locomotive carriage, driven by the power of 

 electro-magnetism. The inventor of these models is Mr. Robert Davidson, 

 an ingenious mechanic from Aberdeen, who has been engaged upon them for 

 the last four years, and who has succeeded in eflecting several improvements 

 in the application of electro-magnetism, which promise to be of great prac- 

 tical value. He is the first, we understand, who has employed the electro- 

 magnetic pow er in producing motion, by simply suspending the magnetism 

 w ithout a change of poles. The mode employed by Jacobi, Davenport, and 

 Storrar, consisted in keeping the repulsive power (which is equal to a third 

 only of the attractive power) in operation during the one half of the time, 

 and the attractive po«er during the other half. Mr. Davidson's discovery 

 consists in a simple and extremely ingenious method of communicating and 

 cutting ofl' alternately the galvanic current to and fn ni a pair of electro- 

 magnets that always act attractively, so as to exert a constant moving force 

 upon the machine which is put inaction. It has received the approbation 

 of numerous scientific gentlemen, who consider that Mr. Davidson lias suc- 

 ceeded in showing the perfect applicability of m gnetism as a motive power 

 to engines of e ery elescription. It would no doubt be desirable, however, to 

 see experiments tried on a larger scale ; which Mr. Davidson, we understand, 

 is anxious to do, but is deterred by the want of funds. — Scotsman. 



Travelling by Elcctro-magnetie Power. — We are informed that a distance of 

 57 miles has been travelletl on the common road, in a Bath chair, by electro- 

 magnetic power, in one hour and a half; and further, that the applicr comes 

 over elaily from St. Alban's to the Bank of England in the said chair in half 

 an hour at an expense of sixpence. The model of an electro-magnetic engine, 

 which has been exhibiting at the Adelaide C^allery for some time, is an in- 

 stance of ingenitus mechanic arrangement, whereby contact is broken and 

 renewed, the poles reversed. Sec; anel from its performances gave great pro- 

 mise of practical powers on a larger scale. The battery employed is the 

 nitric acid, or Groves battery. Of the invention that has done the great 

 feat, and estab'ished the successful ajplicaiion of this wonderrul agent, we 

 know little more than its success. We heir that the increase of power is due 

 to the (liscovery of a new combinatipn of elements ; that this is the secret of 

 the moving power; and that the battery is to be the subject of a a patent.— 

 Literary Gazette. 



Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway.— It is gratifying to observe the inces.'ant 

 exertions w hich are tnaking everywb.ere on the line in the vicinity of this 

 city to get this national umlertaking comp'eted. The magnificent entrance 

 to our great funnel is drawing to a conclusii n, while the booking and other 

 offices are all but finished. The landing and departing platforms ^re now 

 getting very handsome sheds, with elegant cast iron supports set up ; and 

 the ground is clearing out for laying the permanent rails. Yesterday Mr. 

 John Craig, the mineralogist, made a survey of the tunnel, in furtherance of 

 the objects of the British Association, and proceeded right through it. in 

 company with the very polite and spirited contractor. Mr. Marshall. Amongst 

 many other geological specimens got in the journey, we saw perfect masses 

 of the Nucula Tumida. Prodiicta .Scotia, Prodiicta ilartinnii, Bellerophon Urii, 

 and Apiocrinites, imbedded in a shale, above a two feet limestone, with many 

 other interesting remains of a period long belore the creation of man. — Glas- 

 gow Constitutional, August 4. 



London and Brighton Raitwai/.-The Brighton terminus is now completed^ 

 externallv. All the weirks are on a magnificent scale ; and the passengers' 

 sheds and station vie with any works of a similar kind in the kingdom. The 

 station is even larger than that at the London terminus of the Birmingham 

 Railway in Euston- square ; and the edifice forms a pleasing and prominent 

 object from various parts of the town. — Brighton Gazette. 



Bristol and Glocester Railwni/.—Jhe w orks on this line are proceeding rapidly 

 in the neighbourhood of Wickwar, where 600 additional labourers have been 

 put on this week. — Glocestershire Chronicle. 



Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway .—ConUacis have been taken, 

 and in some instances the works have been commenced, for carrying on this 

 line from its present terminus at Cirencester towards Stroud and Gloucester. 

 — Cheltenham Looker-on. 



Paris and Rouen Railway.— This great work is proceeding rapidly, under 

 the superintendence of Mr. Locke ; and we understand that thirty-five miles 

 of the Paris end of the line will be opened early in the spring ol next year. 



Railroad from Berlin to Hamburgh on the right bank of the Elbc.—Jhn Ham- 

 burgh Gazette., under date Berlin, the 24th ult., announces that a commence- 

 ment had been made in this aflair. The provisional committee was appointed 

 definitively, with power to adopt resolutions. This enterprise was calculated 

 to consolidate the interests of so rouny people, that the most perfect accor- 

 dance was necessary. The num'oer of subscribers amounted to 5,C0O. 



Railway Filte'-s— For some time a number of men have been cnijiloyed in 

 the erection of filters on the top of the terminus of the Greenwich Railway, 

 for the purpose of supplying the engines with pure water, it having been dis- 

 covered that the water tliat''has been used has occasioned considerable injury 

 and wear to the machinery. There are also similar tiJters erected at the 

 New Cross station, on the Croydon line. 



