80 



REPORT — 1859. 



On the score of economy also, the system appears to encourage its applica- 

 tion ; from experiments which have been made, it appears that the wear of 

 the tyres is far more uniform and equal, because the break springs may be so 

 adjusted as not to cause the wheels to skid. The Manager of the East Lan- 

 cashire Railway states that with two trains running together between Salford 

 and Colne, the carriages fitted with continuous breaks travelled 47,604< miles 

 before the wheels required turning up ; whilst an ordinary break van running 

 the same distance had to have its wheels turned up three times in the same 

 period, three-eighths of an inch being taken oif each time. 



Experiments at Southport. 



Engine not detached from the Trains. 



It will be observed that on most through lines the trains travel on some 

 portion of the distance at the rate of 60 miles an hour, and in the event of 

 an obstruction half a mile in advance, a collision would be inevitable unless 

 the driver has the power and the presence of mind to act with promptitude. 

 Now at 60 miles an hour there is only 30 seconds, or half a minute, to effect 

 that object, and it is quite impossible to apply the breaks in their present 

 state, before the train, in such a precarious position, is in actual contact. As- 

 suming, however, that breaks upon the principle of Mr. Newall and Mr. Fay 

 were attached to the engine as well as the train, and that the driver had 

 the power of instantaneous application by liberating a spring, it is evident 

 that, instead of the train dashing forward to destruction, the momentum might 

 be destroyed in a distance of less than 500 yards, and that without injury to 

 life or property. Besides, the application of the Electric Telegraph, which 

 prevents on most through lines more than one train being on the line between 

 the stations, is a great additional security, and that, united to the continuous 

 break, applied to the engine as well as the train, would — when united to a 

 more perfect system of signals — render collision next to impossible. 



Report of Dublin Bay Dredging Committee for 1858-59. 

 By Professor J. 11. Kin ah an, M.D., F.L.S., M.R.I.A 



appointed at the Leeds Meeting in 1858, con- 

 , Dr. Carte, Dr. E. Perceval Wright, F.L.S., and 



The Dredging Committee, 

 sisted of Professor Kinahan, 

 Professor J. Reay Greene. 



Early in the winter of 1858, the author commenced investigations at the 

 south of the district on the Scallop Bank near Bray, to which three excursions 

 were made with success, as regards the captures made. Early in 1859 a series 

 of severe gales occurred, which afforded a rich harvest of specimens on 

 the Portmarnock Strand to the north of Dublin ; many species of Mol- 



