1852.] 



MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. 



119 



appointed Presidcut of the Company, auJ Hugh Scobie, Esquire, Vice 

 President, The position of the Oonipauy is very satisfactory ; and it 

 appeared from the proceedings that tlie operations are such as to ensure 

 an early opening of the road over a portion of tlie line, as far as Lalse 

 Simcoe; and the full extension of it, for traflic to Lake Huron, soon 

 thereafter. The meeting was satisfied with these favourable prospects ; 

 and we congratulate the Company on its trulj' prosperous condition, 

 which must be very gratifying to all concerned, in the success of the 

 undertaking. The beneficial influences of the work are already felt in 

 the country through which the line passes ; and will be infinitely more 

 so wlienthe " Iron Horse" commences to make its regular rnn, day by 

 day, between broad Ontario and Huron. There is but a very short 

 time to elapse until this great benefit to the inhabitants of the interme- 

 diate places, and both exb'eraities, is realized. — Colonist. 



Caniidian Canals. 



The total movement on the canals for 1851, and three years previous, 

 is as follows : — 



WELLAND OANAI.. 



1848. 1849. 



Tons 307,611 351,596 



Passengers 2,487 1,640 



Tonnage of Vessels 372,854 468,410 



ST. LAWRENCE CANAL. 



Tons 164,637 213,153 



Pas-sengers 2,071 26,997 



Tonnage of Vessels 5,648 5,448 



OHAMBLT CANAL. 



Tons 17,835 77,216 



Passengers 470 8,430 



Tonnage of Vessels 659 1,264 



The receipts of 1851 were 



Expenses 



Of the gross toUs, the Welland produced 



The St. Lawrence 



1850. 1851. 



399,600 691,627 



1,930 4,758 



588,100 772,623 



288,103 450,400 



35,932 33,407 



6,169 6,934 



109,040 



278 

 2,878 



120,720 

 1,860 

 1,727 

 £76,216 

 12,285 

 48,241 

 21,276 



Agricultural Products of the United States, for tlie year 1850 : 



Wheat 



Indian Com 



Tobacco 



Cotton 



Wool 



Wine 



Butter 



Hay 



Maple Sugar 



bushels 100,493,874 

 do. 592,286,224 

 pounds 199,752,646 

 bales 2,468,625 



pounds 52,529,450 

 gallous 221,219 

 pounds 312,990,730 

 tons 12,739,323 



pounds 33,880,617 



r O R E 16 N. 



Death of the Countess of Lovelace. 



The Countess of Lovelace, the sole daughter of Lord Byron, died on 

 Saturday, (Dec. 4.) Such is the brief announcement of the death of a 

 lady whose rare endowments were worthy of her illustrious parentage, 

 and who appears to have inherited, with much of the genius, ranch also of 

 the moral daring which combined with it, to make him, as he proudly 

 asserted, " not altogether of such clay" as that race of fellow men for 

 whom he professed such unhappy contempt. Lady Lovelace, beside 

 being one of the many to whom the authorship of that ' rock of offence' 

 the Vestiges of Creation has been at one time attributed, a proof at 

 least that her attainments in the subjects it treats of were of a high 

 order, was the avowed author of works, of a character seldom to be 

 found proceeding from a female pen, and particularly of a masterly 

 translation of Chevalier Menabrea's ' Memoir of the Analytical Engine 

 invented by Charles Babbage, Esq., {Scicniific Memoirs, vol. III.) which 

 she accompanied by elaborate and learned notes, considerably longer 

 than the memoir itself, involving not only the applications of very high 

 mathematics, but a thorough mastery in principle of one of the most 

 difficult and complicated inventions of the human mind. This engine 

 must not be confused by our readers with wliat is commonly called 

 Babbage's calculating machine, it is one of a much higher order. The 

 latter, or difference engine, in the words of the gifted lady we have now 

 to deplore, could ordy tabulate accurately and to an m^imitcd extent all 

 series whose general term is comprised in the formula, 



u^ =^ a -{- bx -j- ex 2 _|- dx ^ "l" fi-'^ ■* + ^'^ ° "F g'' ° 

 and was chiefly designed for the calculation of nautical and astronomical 

 tables; the former, or Analytical Engine, would be capable, if comple- 



ted, of developing and tabulating any fraction whatever, being, so to 

 speak, the embody ment of the science of operations. " Those," she writes 

 " who view mathematical science not merely as a vast body of abstract 

 and immutable truths, whose intrinsic beauty, symmetry and logical 

 completeness, when regarded in their connection together as a whole, 

 entitle them to a prominent place in the interest of all profound and 

 logical minds, but as possessing a yet deeper interest for the human 

 race, when it is remembered that this science constitutes the language 

 through which alone we can adequately express the great facts of the 

 natural world, and those increasing changes of mutual relationship 

 which, visibly or invisibly, consciously or unconsciously to our imme- 

 diate physical perceptions, are interminably going on in the agencies 

 of the creation we live amidst ; those who think on mathematical 

 truth as the insb'ument through which the weak mind of man can 

 most effectually read his Creator's works, wiU regard with especial 

 interest all that can tend to facilitate the translation of its principles 

 into explicit practical forms." In this high spirit did the translator 

 undertake her laborious task. That talents so great and masculine, in 

 union with purposes so noble, should sometimes come out of the retire- 

 ment, often ignorantly associated, • by the detractors of hereditary 

 nobility, with no other idea than that of frivolous amusement or vapid 

 idleness, is a thing we rejoice too much to see, to lose this occasion of 

 paying it a passing ti'ibute. 



The IroB Trade. 



The recent rise in the price of iron, and the discussion which it has 

 caused respecting the s'ockof Scotcli pig-iron have induced us to make 

 some 1 articular inquiries into the state of this trade, of which we sub- 

 join the results. At the commencement of the present year 114 furnaces 

 were in blast in Scotland. The price of g m Brands m no was 38s. per 

 ton ; but the market became more depressed and prices receded to 

 35s. 6d. in February; for prompt cash in exchange for store warrarts 

 f. o. b. in Glasgow. A few furnaces were soon after blown out ; but 

 large purchases having been made on speculation, at 36s. to 37s. per 

 ton, and some English consumers having enteied on large contracts, 

 confidence was restored in the article, and with that came a demand 

 for increased wages from the miners and iron workers, followed by 

 improved sales of malleable iron, which, altogether, tended to advance 

 the price of pig-iron, and secure the average quotations of subsequent 

 months, whicli we subjoin. A large speculative business has been done 

 for some time past, but upon a stronger basis than tlie speculations of 

 1815 and 1850. We are aware that at the periods in question numer- 

 ous transactions occurred in pig-iron, which was not made, and was 

 represented by tlie makers' engagement to deliver on demand. The 

 present purcliases are made on store-keeper's warrants, and we know 

 tliat the article paid for is in existence. Since the month of February 

 to the present time the receipts in the store-keepers' yaris here have 

 not been less than 1,000 tons daily. The production in Scotland is 

 greatly dispi ted by different parties; becau.se on that depends 

 the question whether stocks are accumulating. Changes have 

 been made in the construction of furnaces, and in the 

 process "of smelting during recent years, which, although 

 not universally adopted at once in all the works, have gradually in- 

 creased the aggregate make from the same number of furnaces ; and 

 the average per furnace may now be assumed at 135 to 141 tons per 

 week. One high authority on these matters states the differences in 

 production at from 100 tons to 180, and even 200 tons weekly per 

 furnace. We do not think that 200 tons have been reached in many 

 instances, or even 180 ; but still we think tbat 135 tons are probably 

 the average production. The Scotch cnnsumption was calculated in 

 1851 at 250,000 tons in all descriptions of works. The malleable 

 works have increased their products, and the number of foundries has 

 also increased ; but we believe, that since the recent rise in iron, as 

 foundry goods have not gone up in an equal proportion, the supply 

 for them has rather been contracted. The Scotch consumption during 

 the first ten months of the present year has been estimated at 220,000 

 tons. A decrease of shipments during the same period of 23,000 tons 

 has also occurred. In November the latter trade has obviously and 

 rapidly revived ; while a larger than the usual quantity now waits 

 freight. If the present prices be permanent the production will be 

 increased; but that cannot be done rapidly, for a number of furnaces 

 are always out of blast. An increase of the Ayrshire furnaces is ex- 

 pected, but not during the currency of the present year. 

 The number of furnaces built at the 1st January last was 



143, andbuildingl 144 



Of which, at that date, were in blast 114 



Ditto at 1st July hist - 104 



Ditto now - 1^2 



The annual production of 112 furnaces at an average of 130 tons 



