TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 203 



But while pToat ^TOl■ks have to he carried out in distant parts, still more remains 

 to be accomplished nearer home. The railway of to-da}- has not only taken the 

 place of high roads and canals, for the transmission of p'oods and passengers be- 

 tween our g-reat centres of industry and population, but is already superseding' Ijy- 

 roads leading; to places of inferior importance ; it competes with the mule in car- 

 rying minerals oyer mountain-passes, and with the omnibus in our great cities. 

 If a ri-\-er cannot be spanned by a bridge without hindering nayigation, a tunnel is 

 forthwith in contejnplation ; or, if that should not be practicaljle, the transit of 

 trains is yet accomplished by the establishment of a large steam-ferry. 



It is one of the questions of the day to decide by which plan the British Channel 

 should be crossed, to relieve the unfortunate traveller to the Continent of the ex- 

 ceeding discomfort and delay inseparable from the existing most imperfect arrange- 

 ments. Considering that this question has now been taken up by some of our 

 leading engineers, and is also entertained by the two interested governments, wo 

 may look forward to its speedy and satisfactory solution. 



So long as the attention of railway engineers was confined to the construction of 

 main lines, it was necessary for them to provide for a hea\-y traffic and high speeds, 

 and these desiderata are best met by a level permanent way, by easy curves and 

 heavy rails of the strongest possible materials, namely, cast steel ; but in extending 

 the system to the corners of the earth, cheapness of construction and mainte- 

 nance, for a moderate speed and a moderate amount of traflic, become a matter of 

 necessity. 



Instead of plunging through hill and mountain, and of crossing and recrossing 

 rivers by a series of monumental works, the modern railway passes in zigzag up 

 the steep incline and conforms to the windings of the narrow gorge; it can only 

 be worked by light rolling-stock of flexible construction, lurnished with increased 

 power of adhesion and great bralie-power. Yet by the nid of the electric telegraph, 

 in regulating the progress of each train, the number of trains may be so increased 

 as to produce nevertheless a large aggregate of trafiic, and it is held by some that 

 even our trunk lines vrould be worked more advantageously by light rolling-stock. 



the time being into a pump forcing steam and water into its own boiler. It is 

 difficult to overestimate the beneficial efi'ects likely to result from this invention. 



While the extension of communication occupies the attention of perhaps the 

 greater number of our engineers, others are engaged upon weapons of oftensive and 

 defensive warfare. We have scarcely recovered our wonder at the terrific destruc- 

 tion dealt by the Armstrong gun, the Whitworth bolt, or the steel barrel conso- 

 lidated under Krupp's gigantic steam hammer, when we hear of a shield of such 

 solidity and toughness as to bid defiance to them all. A larger gun or a harder 

 bolt by Palliser or Griison is the successful answer to this challenge, when ao-ain 

 defensive jdating, of greater tenacity to absorb the power residing in the shot, or 

 of such imposing weight and hardness combined as to resist the projectile absolutely 

 (causing it to be broken up by the force residing -within itself) is brought forward. 



The ram of war with heavy iron sides, which a few years since was thoua'ht the 

 most formidable, as it certainl)' was the most costly weapon ever devised, is already 

 being superseded by vessels of the " Captain type " as designed by Captain Coles, 

 and carried out by ^lessrs. Laird Brothers, with turrets (armed with guns by 

 Anustrong of gigantic power) that resist the heaviest firing, both on account of 

 their extraordinary thickness, and of the angular direction in which the shot is 

 likelj' to strike. 



By an ingenious device Captain Moncreiff lowers his gun upon its rocking car- 

 riage after firing, and thereby does away with embrasures (the weak places in 

 protecting works), while at the same time he gains the advantage of reloadino- his 

 gun in comparative safety. 



It is presumed that in thus raising formidable engines of offensive and defensive 

 warfare the civilized nations of the earth will pause before puttino- them into earnest 

 operation ; but, if they should do so, it is consolatory to think that they coidd not 

 work them for long without eftecting the total exhaustion of their treasuries, already 

 drained to the utmost in their construction. 



