154 ; REPORT—1858. 
announces his intention of personally examining the nature of the ground which 
occupies the narrow Isthmus of Kraw, and separates the Gulf of Bengal from that 
of Siam. 
On a Method for the Spherical Printing of G'lobes. 
By M.1. Josreru SILBERMANN. 
The merit claimed for M, Silbermann’s invention was, that by it globes could be 
made more cheaply, rapidly, and accurately than upon the usual plan. Two copper 
hemispheres are employed, in which small globes are cast entire, and large ones by 
partially filling them with a kind of pulp, and introducing an India rubber bag, which 
is inflated by powerful pressure; and in that way the pulp is forced into the crevices 
of the mould, 
On the Lacustrine Homes of the Ancient Swiss. By M. Troyon. 
The object of the paper was to direct attention to the remains of ancient cabins or 
houses built on piles on the banks and in many of the lakes of Switzerland. These 
dwelling-places had been erected so that they might be surrounded by water as a pro- 
tection from wild beasts and the enemies of the inhabitants. Remains of flint arrow- 
heads, stone axes, flint knives, and other rude articles were found, and were some 
indication of the state of civilization and knowledge to which the inhabitants had 
attained. 
On the Formation of a Railway from the Atlantie to the Pacifie Ocean, 
through the British Possessions of North America. By A. Wuttney, of 
New York. 
The writer commenced his paper by explaining at some length the reasons why 
he was convinced that the United States would never attempt the construction of 
any such line of railway, and then observed that, had his plan been adopted, the 
work could have been commenced on the western shore of Lake Michigan, where 
there were timber, materials, and easy communication with settlement and civili- 
zation, and everything to facilitate settlement on its line the lines: to connect with 
it from the Atlantic, passing through but two States, could from necessity haye 
been made tributary to its operation and management from the Lake to the Pacific. 
Congress then had power over it, and all the streams could have been bridged ; 
so that an uninterrupted communication from ocean to ocean would haye been 
for ever after. A cargo of merchandise could have passed from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific without transhipment, and as the road from the Lake to the Pacific would 
have been free, except tolls necessary for operations and repairs, the charge for 
transit would have been so low, together with the great saving in time, that the 
commerce of Europe with Asia would have been forced over it. This was now all 
lost to the United States. The author of the paper continued by saying, he had 
never believed that a railroad to the Pacific could ultimately benefit either Europe or 
the Atlantic slope of America, unless the commerce of Europe with Asia could be 
made to pass over it, leaving England with her present manufacturing and commer- 
cial position and relations, and augmenting her power over both. The immense 
business which the commerce and intercourse between Europe and Asia would give 
to the road must, as a natural result, form a foundation for the employment of a 
densely populated belt from ocean to ocean, and as far as the soil and climate might 
suit, mostly an agricultural people. This belt would take the surplus population 
from Europe, and make the producers of food to exchange for English manufactures 
on one side and Asiatic products on the other, thus benefiting to a vast extent the 
population of both Europe and Asia, by giving to each the means to consume more 
largely of the other’s products. If these great results could not be attained, what 
benefit to England, or to the United States even, could be looked for from a railroad 
to the Pacific? When he was last in England (in 1851) he found many warm 
advocates for the construction of a railway over British territory. It was then, as 
now, his firm belief that this work could not be accomplished through a wilderness 
so vast, except by a system of settlement and civilization to be connected with the 
