1842.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



167 



of ihe break is seUom necessary, tlie speed that would be due to the accele- 

 rating force of gravity, being" reduced by the resistance of the atmosphere, 

 until it settles down to a uniform and safe velocity. It is evident, therefore, 

 that there is a great deal yet to learn on this subject, «hen we find authority 

 and practice difl'ering so materially. Mr. Vignoles observed, in conclusion, 

 that, as the laying out of the lines of railway ought to be strictly regulated 

 by the power to be used for locomotion, as well .as of the load of each train, 

 and the nature of the traflic, it becomes interesting to consider these principles 

 in respect of the extension of the railway system in this and in other coun- 

 tries ; for, looking at the enormous outlay hitherto incurred, lines through 

 remote districts would not be undertaken, unless the first cost of railways, 

 and the annual expense of working and maintaining them, were reduced to 

 a minimum. 



PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 



INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS. 

 Feb. 1. — The President in the Chair. 



" A memoir of Captain Huddari." By William Cotton, F.R.S., &c. 



This memoir is intended by the author chiefly to supply some additional 

 facts which are omitted in the account which was published by his son soon 

 after the decease of this distinguished man, whose " great powers of mind, 

 indefatigable industry, and high principles, raised him to a most honourable 

 position in the rank of men of science." Joseph Huddart was born at 

 Allonby, in Cumberland, the 11th January, 1740. llis father was a shoe- 

 maker and farmer, and had also a small interest in a herring fishery. Young 

 Huddart was placed under the tuition of Mr. Wilson, the clergjman of the 

 village, and from his son, who had been at Glasgow, he acquired some know- 

 ledge of mathematics and astronomy. He early displayed much ingenuity 

 in the construction of models of vessels and of machinery ; and while herd- 

 ing his father's cattle, he was occupied in mathematical reading, drawing, 

 and calculations. His determination to adopt a seafaring life was opposed 

 by his friends ; and it was not until he was called upon to take his share of 

 the duties on board the herring-fishing boats, that his father was reconciled 

 to his becoming a sailor. At this period, during the hours of rest after his 

 labours, he was engaged in making nautical observations, and laid the foun- 

 dation for the chart of St. George's Channel, which was laid down by him, 

 and published by his friend, Mr. Laurie, and still is the best chart of that 

 locality. On the death of his father, in 1762, he took the command of a 

 sloop which was employed in carrying salt herrings to Ireland. He then 

 constructed a brig according to a model of his own, every timber being 

 moulded by his own hands. In this vessel he traded for some years to Ame- 

 rica; until, in 1771, he was induced by Sir Richard Hotham (who had dis- 

 covered and appreciated his judgment and knowledge) to leave the brig and 

 engage in the East India mercantile marine. " In this extensive field of use- 

 fulness, Huddart evinced the superiority of his talents and his inflexible in- 

 tegrity ; " and his example as a commander was generally followed. While 

 in the Indian service his attention was drawn to the defects in the usual 

 manufacture of cordage, and led to the improvements which he afterwards 

 so successfully accomplished. He subsequently took a prominent part in the 

 direction of affairs at the Trinity House, the Ramsgate Harbour Trust, and 

 the London and East India Docks, where the valuable advice given by him 

 was properly appreciated, as it was also by the civil engineer, with whom he 

 ■was called upon so frequently to co-operate. The memoir then relates many 

 interesting anecdotes of his private life, illustrative of his general scientific 

 acquirements, and of his amiable disposition. It then details, at considerable 

 length, his experiments for the determination of the lines for ships, which, 

 consistent with stabihty, and what might be required for stowage of cargo, 

 would give the greatest velocity through the water. The author enters fully 

 into the account of lluddart's inventions and improvements in rojie ma- 

 chinery, which he raised to such a pitch of perfection. This machinery, 

 which is now transferred to the Royal Dock Yards, has already been before 

 brought under the notice of the Institution by Mr. Cotton and by Messrs. 

 Dempsey and Birch, in communications for which prizes were awarded. 

 The general introduction of chain cables rendered this machinery less useful, 

 but could not take from its original merit ; and, in its present position, it 

 will long remain a monument of Captain Huddart's perseverance, mechanical 

 skill, and scientific knowledge. 



Remarks. — Sir James South thought that Captain Huddart's scientific 

 attainments as an astronomer had not received their due meed of praise in 

 the memoir ; but more especially, that the equatorial instrument, which he 

 was now fortunate enough to have in his possession, should have been 

 alluded to more particularly. That instrument was constructed by Messrs. 

 Luke Howard &: Co., of Old-street, from the designs and under the daily 

 superintendence of Huddart. The greatest part of the instrument was put 

 together with his own hands, and the result of this combination of skill and 

 attention was, that, up to the present tirr.e, the instrument had been une- 

 qualled ; in fact, he must be permitted to say, that he considered it perfect. 

 It had been used for all kinds of observations — transit, declination, and equa- 

 torial ; and, in all, with equal satisfaction to the astronomer. With it Mr. 



Herschel had made many of his obser%'ations, and always expressed himself 

 in the highest terms of it. It had been examined by most of the eminent 

 constructors of instruments, as well as many civil engineers, who all enter- 

 tained the same opinion of its perfection ; and, after a minute inspection, 

 one constructor observed, " Here is the best system of edge-bars and bracing 

 I ever saw, and my opinion of the instrument is, that it is perfect in every 

 part." Sir James then related several anecdotes of Huddart's habits of ob- 

 servation. On one occasion, being ordered to sail from Madras at a certain 

 time, he delayed his departure, because he observed a sudden fall of nearly 

 three-quarters of an inch in the mercury of the barometer. The residt of 

 this disobedience of orders (for which he incurred momentarj' censure,) was, 

 that his vessel alone of all the convoy escaped destiuction. 



The President believed that Captain Huddart was the first to mark out the 

 direct course to China, which was so generally followed at present. He was 

 also the first observer who took a transit instrument out there with him, to 

 determine the rate of the chronometer. It was particularly worthy of notice, 

 that the equatorial instrument and the rope machinery, both which had been 

 designed by and executed under the directions of a self-educated man, desti- 

 tute of the means of acquiring instruction either in astronomy or mechanics, 

 had both been, up to the present time, unequalled either in conception or in 

 the perfection of their execution. Huddart was the constant coadjutor of 

 civil engineers ; he assisted the late Mr. Rennie in many of his surveys of 

 harbours, and on those occasions had always the command of the vessel, even 

 if he participated in the actual operations of the survey. Whether Huddart 

 was viewed as a sailor, boldly striking out for himself a new track to his des- 

 tination ; as a ship-builder constructing a vessel in order to avoid the defects 

 which he observed in the ordinary class of ships ; as a hydrographer, dis- 

 plajing in his chart of the St. George's Channel those powers of observation 

 and of reasoning which made him an astronomer ; as a constructor of the 

 equatorial instrument, which had been so justly commended ; or as a me- 

 chanic, designing and constnicting one of the most beautiful pieces of ma- 

 chinery on record — he appeared equally great. The Institution was much 

 indebted to Mr. Cotton for this Memoir of Captain Huddart, whose name 

 would be always venerated by every member of the profession of civil en- 

 gineering. 



Mr. Thornthwaite must in justice correct a misapprehension relative to the 

 laying machine for the cable ; the idea of that machine originated with the 

 Rev. Edmund Cartwright, who had projected more improvements in cotton 

 machinery than any person, except Arkwright. The machine was materially 

 modified by Captain Huddart, and to him must be given all the credit for 

 the perfection of its proportions, and its careful construction, which had 

 enabled a machine weighing 20 tons, and revolving rapidly upon one vertical 

 spindle, to work for a number of years without costing 5/. for repairs. The 

 register, which preceded the laying machine several years, was entirely Hud- 

 dart's invention, and was the origin of his improvements in rope machines. 



Feb. 8. — The President in the Chair. 



" Description of the Port of London, and of the Works at the London 

 Docks." By Robert Richardson, Grad. Inst. C.E. 



In this communication the author examines the state of the Port of Lon- 

 don, when the accommodation for landing and bonding foreign produce, was 

 almost entirely limited to a single spot, called the " Legal Quay," which was 

 only about 1,400 feet in length, extending downwards from London Bridge, 

 afl'ording no greater facilities for commerce in the beginning of the nineteenth 

 century than in the year ICGO, when this quay was appointed. This state 

 of things continued until the year 1773, when Mr. J. Sharp suggested the 

 formation of floating docks. In the year 1800, the West India Docks were 

 commenced ; in the year following the London Docks were projected, and in 

 the year 1805 the East India docks were commenced. For all these under- 

 takings, Mr. Ralph Walker was appointed engineer, having Mr. Wilham Jes- 

 sop associated with him for the West India Docks. The paper enters fully 

 into the bad state of the navigation of tlie river, owing to defective manage- 

 ment and other causes ; gives a table showing the progressive increase of 

 tonnage and number of ships from the beginning to the close of the last 

 century ; mentions the various plans of Dodd, Spence, Reveley, and others, 

 for diverting the channel of the river for the formation of more extensive 

 docks, near the Isle of Dogs ; and then proceeds to detail minutely the origin 

 and progress of the London Docks, giving the dimensions and mode of con- 

 struction of the principal works connecting the Eastern Docks with the 

 Thames, which were constructed under the superintendence of Mr. H. R. 

 Palmer, to whom the author has been indebted for much of the information 

 contained in the paper. 



The communication is accompanied by fifteen drawings, showing the 

 details of construction of the locks and gates, bridges, quays, embankments, 

 &c. 



" Description of the Ponte delta Maddelina, over the River Serchio, near 

 Lucca." By Richard Townshend, Assoc. Inst. C. E. 



The bridge described in this communiration, is situated about half-way 

 between the town and the baths of Lucca, in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany ; 

 It was built by Castracani, in the year 1317, on the site of one which had 

 been constructed by order of the Countess Matihla, eariy in the twelfth cen- 

 tury, and subsequently destroyed ; it is believed that a Roman bridge for- 

 merly existed on the same spot. The present bridge is of grey limestone of 

 the country. The large arch of 120 ft. 6 in. span, is of a semicircular form, 



