TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION G. 599 
The following Report and Papers were then read :— 
1. Interim Report on Gaseous Explosions.—See Reports, p. 166. 
2. On the Effect of Compression Ratio on the Efficiency of a Gas 
Engine. By Professors G. Asakawa and J. E. Peravet. 
The experiments were carried out on a 25-h.p. National gas engine working 
at normal speed. The load, speed, and number of missed explosions were kept 
constant, while the ratio of compression was varied by altering the length of 
the connecting rod. 
Coal-gas was used, its calorific value being determined both by analysis 
and by direct measurement. The heat carried away by the jacket water and 
by the exhaust gases was carefully measured and a heat balance established. 
The results may be summarised as follows :— 
The brake horse-power at full power increases in the same proportion as the 
theoretical air efficiency, so that the ratio of the two or the relative efficiency 
remains constant at about 55 per cent. Under light loads the increase of 
frictional losses with high-compression ratios nearly counterbalances the gain 
in thermodynamic efficiency, and_hence while the absolute efficiency remains 
constant the relative efficiency falls. 
At all loads the mechanical efficiency is higher for low-compression ratios. 
At full loads it fell from 79 per cent. to 74 per cent. ; as the compression ratio 
rose 3°7 to 5°6 at one quarter load it fell from 54 per cent. to 50 per cent. for the 
same change of compression ratio. 
The indicated power at full load increases at a higher rate than that given 
by calculations based on the air standard and at light loads at the same rate; 
hence the relative indicated efficiency increases at full loads and remains con- 
stant at light loads. 
Using gases of a lower calorific value of 520 B.T.U. per cubic foot at 32° F., 
the consumption at full power was 22 cubic feet per B.H.F. per hour with 
the lowest compression, and 18 with the highest. 
Full numerical data together with a discussion of the results will shortly 
be published. ; 
3. Liquid, Solid, and Gaseous Fuels for Power Production. 
By Professor F. W. Burstanu, M.A.—See Appendix, p. 808. 
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12. 
The following Papers were read :— 
1. The Internal Combustion Engine applied to Railway Locomotion. 
By F. W. LANCHESTER. 
In this paper it was pointed out that the steam locomotive, after having 
survived for nearly a century with all its essential features practically un- 
changed, appears to show signs that it is about to yield supremacy to other 
methods of traction. A brief review of the various tentative directions in 
which effort is being expended shows that the position of the steam locomotive 
is being assailed on the one hand by schemes of electrification, and on the 
other by the development of the internal combustion engine, and more particu- 
larly by self-propelled independent units—otherwise known as motor-coaches. 
It is the modern development of the motor-coach that formed the subject of 
the paper. 
Various systems by which the internal combustion engine was applied to 
railway traction were discussed, and by process of elimination the author 
deduced that for the conditions of British railways, at least, the most promising 
solution is found in a straightforward piece of engineering, in which all the 
