AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 585 



as bad as on common roads, with the spiings used in good car- 

 riages; and the loss of power must be great — how else could the 

 effect of what is called collision, increase so as to make the resis- 

 tance at twenty miles per hour, double what it is at four miles 1 

 It is to the rigidity of the engines and trains that I attribute from 

 half to two-thirds of the wear of wheels over rails, and the tear 

 and loosening of fastenings on the track and running gear ; and 

 to this rapid and unanticipated destruction the railroad companies 

 now ascribe the unprofitableness which they can no longer con- 

 ceal. The whole system is diseased; it has something analogous 

 to chronic rheumatism in its very constitution, which must be 

 cured before its powers can be fully developed ; and until it is 

 cured, the locomotive will continue to be as inferior to what it 

 should be, as an old man whose interrosseous substances are 

 hardened, is inferior to a young man whose joints are in the 

 prime of their elasticity; the one is injured by the slightest vio- 

 lence; the other is tough, and can endure, without injury, colli- 

 sions that would break down the rigid structure. 



Mr. Holley gave his opinion, stating that he has observed six 

 different oscillations in locomotives, whicli he described. 



Mr. Meigs, the Secretary, remarked that he had been deeply 

 attentive to the steam engine and railroad, since 1799. That the 

 oscillations complained of would vanish on a perfectly firm right 

 line rail, the yielding of rails with irregularity, was the sole 

 cause of the oscillations, the slightest irregularity of rail, at high 

 velocity, produces great effect. By way of gross evidence of the 

 effect of rough railroad, look at the miserable oscillation of our 

 omnibuses in Broadway, recently, over the icy hillocks which 

 have incumbered it so long. 



Mr. Stetson spoke of the balancing of engines, and did not 

 believe that oscillation could be corrected by balancing. 



Mr. Butler spoke of a machine illustrating the motion of 

 heavenly bodies. 



Mr. Meigs — An Orrery? 



Mr. Tillman proposes as a proper question for the Club — 

 " building walls impervious to heat and moisture," which was 

 ordered for next meeting. 



The Secretary requested members who speak on the question, 

 to prepare in writing all which they would desire publication in 

 the Transactions of the Institute, in order that their own views 

 may be stated. 



