196 REPORT— 1860. 



case of merchant vessels your Committee were obliged to make a selection, 

 and to endeavour, for the purposes of the present Report, to obtain a complete 

 record of a few, in the form suggested by the Committee. With this view, 

 application was again made to the Admiralty, asking for the additional parti- 

 culars not embraced in the returns of trial performances already furnished, 

 and stating that their Lordships were, of course, aware that the particulars 

 given in those documents were of comparatively small value without others 

 of the vessels, their engines, screws, and boilers. The Committee added 

 that they were in possession of such full particulars from both companies and 

 private firms, and they trusted also to be favoured with similar information 

 from the Admiralty. To this communication, the Lords Commissioners re- 

 plied that they regretted they could not at present supply the information 

 desired; but they would be glad to receive a copy of the reports obtained 

 from companies and private firms. Your Committee thereupon constructed a 

 Table embracing the particulars of merchant vessels (Appendix I., Table 1), 

 and also a blank table filled in with the names of Her Majesty's vessels, 

 selected as before mentioned, and containing the results of the test trials 

 already given, and forwarded them to the Admiralty, begging that they 

 might be favoured with the return of the table of the ships of war with the 

 blanks filled in, adding, that if pressure of public business should prevent 

 that being done, your Committee would send a person to copy the particulars 

 on receiving the sanction of the Lords Commissioners to such a course. 



As a measure of precaution in case of failure on the part of the Admiralty 

 to send the promised particulars in time for printing, your Committee ob- 

 tained returns of the machinery of these vessels by application to the manu- 

 facturers, personally and by letter. They avail themselves of this opportunity 

 to thank Messrs. Boulton and Watt, Maudslay Sons and Field, and John 

 Penn and Sons, for having so fully and so promptly responded to the call. 

 They are, therefore, now enabled to lay before the Association a table com- 

 prising the results of the trials furnished by the Admiralty, together with the 

 particulars of engines, &c, furnished by the manufacturers: the figures in 

 Clarendon type (see Appendix I. Table 1) denote the Admiralty returns. 



Your Committee regret that there are some particulars of the trials still 

 wanting, as, for example, the evaporation of water and the consumption of 

 fuel ; but they believe that hitherto those items have not been recorded. It 

 is earnestly hoped, now that public attention has been called to the subject, 

 that a more exact and careful account may be taken, both on the measured 

 mile and on ordinary service at sea. 



In compiling the Table of merchant vessels, a similar course has been 

 adopted, viz. of gathering from the best sources the various details necessary 

 to complete the Table. The Companies to which the vessels belonged, gave 

 every information in their possession, not only of the vessels themselves, but 

 also of their actual sea performances, and placed at the disposal of the Com- 

 mittee the sea logs for every voyage, with permission to make such extracts 

 as they deemed proper. For any additional information, they were referred 

 to the constructors of the engines and vessels. Your Committee cannot 

 speak in too high terms of the constant readiness to give information, 

 although at considerable inconvenience to themselves, which the various 

 Companies and private firms have invariably shown. They feel assured that, 

 had time permitted, and if the requisite labour could be devoted to it, the 

 whole shipping community would willingly contribute their quota of statistics: 

 all that is wanted is uniformity of arrangement, and that a form similar to the 

 one proposed by the Committee be generally adopted. 



The thanks of the British Association are especially due to the Royal 



