80 Great Britain Machinery in Motion. 



by the collection contained in the present Exhibition, it will be advisable to take a glance at 

 some of the chief exhibits of this nature, so as to possess some practical basis for generaliza- 

 tion. A very brief survey suffices to show that in the case of fishing, as of a hundred 

 other kinds of labour, the principal agent in effecting change has been the power of steam. 

 For the reception of this power trawling, itself a device born of the present century, is 

 peculiarly adapted, both from the greater capacity of its vessels and the necessity of regulating 

 their speed. Accordingly, engines and boilers suitable for steam trawlers, and for the steam 

 fish carriers also necessitated by the long voyages to the North Sea, form no inconsiderable 

 portion of the articles on view. At one stand, that of Messrs. Kuston, we find the vertical 

 engine fitted, as in a boat, with freshwater tanks on either side to save the use of salt water in 

 the boiler. At another, that of Messrs. Kose & Co., we have the famous Kingston winch with 

 automatic laying-in gear and a whole series of novel appliances adaptable for trawling. 

 The whole mass of water again required for the Aquarium is purified by the Atkins 

 system and Dr. Clarke's process, and the same principle could with ease be applied to 



keeping large beds of our rivers, containing, say, twenty million gallons of water 



wholly free from chalk and other impurities for the preservation and increase of fish. 



Another ingenious adaptation of steam to steering is that of the worm and worm-wheel 



motion devised by Messrs. Davis, in such a way that the strain, acting at right angles to the 



worm, is unable to produce a circular motion, whereby the kick of the wheel, so dangerous to 



the helmsman and so trying to the gear, is obviated even in the roughest weather. Windlasses 



too of a special character are here required, both for ordinary purposes and also for hauling 



in the trawl. In connection with this last point, it may be observed the very simple and 



easily worked invention for raising ships '.exhibited by Messrs. Thomson would seem capable 



of easy application to raising the trawl for those smacks to which steam power has not been 



fitted. So, again, to accomplish a large catch is much, but to accomplish it without waste is of 



at least equal importance. How shall the immature fry be permitted to escape ? That is a 



question upon which depends the fate of the whole rising generation of fishes, and therefore 



of the whole rising generation of fishermen. Mr. Eead furnishes us with a tentative answer. 



The same mesh will be square or lozenge-shaped, according as it is distended laterally or 



longitudinally, and while in the former case it will allow any diminutive captive to pass out 



unharmed, in the latter it will inevitably catch them by the gills, no matter how small they 



may be. To avoid this misfortune, an untoward event for both parties concerned, Mr. Read 



keeps the cod of the trawl extended by a couple of hoops, whereby the lozenge is converted 



into the square, and the young fish are saved from useless and wasteful destruction. But then, 



it is urged, the mesh when distended is not strong enough to bear a strain ; and the square, 



giving more room diagonally than longitudinally, favours the flat fish more than the round, 



which require the greater protection. Hereupon Mr. Morris comes forward with his circular 



mesh of wire which does not yield to the pressure and possesses the advantage of having 



the same space of aperture in every direction. Nor is the application of machinery by any 



means confined to the apparatus immediately forming part of a smack's outfit. Gas engines 



are needed in various ways, such as the Bissehop Engine, which pumps six tons of water into 



the supply tanks of the fishponds at Ringwood in the course of one hour, for twopence. 



Portable forges are in use on board steam trawlers, fitted with sentinel valves, which by giving 



warning at a certain temperature call the attention of the fisherman who may be otherwise 



occupied at the moment. 



The construction of fish barrels affords a large field for mechanical contrivances, and the 

 ingenious set of special herring-barrel machines exhibited by Messrs. A. Ransome and Co. 

 of Chelsea, are a great centre of attraction. These machines which are kept in full operation, 

 produce better barrels than it is possible to make by hand, at about one-third of the cost 

 for labour. The machines, which are very simple, are all worked by unskilled boys' labour, 

 and work up the rough sawn staves into finished casks and heads, leaving nothing to be done 

 by hand but to place the heads in their grooves at the ends of the barrel, and to fix on the ' 

 wooden hoops. The entire plant, which stands on a space of 34 ft., by 17 ft. is capable of 

 producing 1000 full sized pickle barrels a week. 



Of a different class are Messrs. Bateman's devices for self-lubrication where small 

 cylinders of metaline being set into the bushes of the ship blocks, save endless labour by 

 keeprng them automatically lubricated, while their gray emery wheel, being composed of 



