140 REPORT— 1866. 



great country is not in a position to defend either herself or her colonies against 

 a combined attack from more than one of those foreign fiiends we have heretofore 

 recognized under a different appellation. It is a function of this department of 

 our Association to study and discuss the forms of ships suitable for the purposes 

 of commerce and war, to ascertain the conditions imder which they will attain 

 the highest velocities, or carry the heaviest burdens, to know and define the laws 

 of resistance to motion in water (a subject to which I have devoted a not alto- 

 gether useless attention), and to apply the motive force necessary to overcome 

 that resistance in the most economical, most convenient, and most serviceable 

 manner ; and it is also a function of this department to deal with the theory and 

 practice of projectiles, and to contrive the means by which these warlike instru- 

 ments, both large and small, may be most advantageously employed by our military 

 and naval forces. But whilst, as good Englishmen, we feel the necessity of being 

 prepared for war in order to secure a lasting and respected peace, we must not 

 neglect the consideration of so much more of our science as contributes to the 

 material wealth and prosperity of our countiy, and to the social comfort and 

 intellectual improvement of its inliabitants, and, I may add, of the whole world. 

 Before sitting down, permit me to request your attention to the many points of 

 interest peculiar to this town and its neighbourhood. You win find here, in the 

 lace-machine, combinations and arrangements of mechanism of the most compli- 

 cated yet of the most exact kind, all tending to the cheap and rapid fabrication 

 of an article of commerce, which has made its way over the entire world, and 

 without the possession of which no home, and I had almost said no lady's dress, 

 can be considered complete. The present state and extent of this really wonderful 

 manufacture is an instance, and a remarkable one, of the effect of that law of con- 

 tinuity which last evening formed the staple of om* President's addi'ess. It has 

 only been by little and little, but by slow and continuous progression, that the lace 

 mechanism of Nottingham has become developed into that condition of almost 

 perfection to which it has now attained. The excursionists wUl find in the 

 geology of this district much to invite their attention. Within a very few miles 

 many of the most interesting formations of the eai'th's crust come to the surface, 

 from the syenite at the base of the system to the more recent deposits of lias and 

 oolite. Coal and ironstone are \erj abundant ; and although it is to be regretted 

 that the tovra of Nottingham has not yet availed itself of the vast amoimt of 

 mineral wealth within its reach, yet, in the large undertakings of Biitterly, Rid- 

 dings, and other places, as well as the great extent to which the Midland Coal- 

 field is being wrought for the supply of distant countries, you will see evidences 

 of the growth of a local industry, which, as I believe, is yet m its infancy. 



On, the Application of the Expansive Power of moistened Vegetable Matter to 

 the raising of Weights. By Admiral Sir E. Belcher. 



On a System of Pneunuitic Propulsion. 

 By M. Bekgeeon, Manager of the Swiss Western Ea'ilways. 



The author proposes to propel the carriages through a tube by means of 

 a column of air, and not to use exhaustion. This column of air he derives from 

 the gradual sinking of a large beU, or succession of beUs, after the manner of a gas- 

 holder. The raising of the bells will be effected by means of the direct action 

 of hydraidic power from an elevated head, where such is available, and in any 

 case the power, whether water or steam, used for raising the bell is only auxiliary, 

 as the ascending carriages will drive the air before them, and thus raise the bell a 

 certain portion of the necessary elevation. M. Bergeron is about to construct a 

 short line on this system at Lausanne, for connecting that town with the terminus 

 of the present railway there. The tube is to be constructed of concrete, the 

 materials for which can be obtained at a low cost. 



On the Action and Effect of Flame in Marine Boilers. By N. P. Bukgh. 



