120 



MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. 



[1852. 



per week each, is annually 757,120 Ions, and deducting 230,000 tons 

 for local consumplion, leaves over half a million for export, but with 

 existing means that qaarjtity could be greatly increased, and the yield 

 gives an aggregate annually of probably 60 000 tons over this state- 

 ment. The difference between February and present prices if the 

 latter can be maintained is, therefore, equal to £800,000 annually to 

 the meders. — Expositor. 



New Tiikrmojietee for Maximum Temperatures. — Some three cen- 

 turies have now passed siuce the invention of the thermometer by 

 Sartorius and Drebell, iu which but little improvement has been made 

 on the original Siuce the introductiou of the registering thermometer 

 no advance has been, and the steel index has been depended upon, 

 although ahvavs liable to great incorrectness, either from becoming 

 fixed in the tube, and the mercurj' pa.«^siug it ; or from its falling back 

 with the mercury, and not registering at all In the thermometer just 

 introduced Messrs. Negretti have no needle, the mercury registering 

 correctly itself. About an inch above the bulb a small cyhnder of 

 glass is forced iuto the tube, which is then bent at right angles, the 

 graduated portion lying horizontally. With an increase of temperature, 

 the mercury finds its way tluough the capillary pores left between the 

 cvlinder and the circumference of the orifice ; but on a decrease, the 

 inercury left horizontally in the tube cannot get back to the bulb, and 

 remains at the index of the highest point of temperature it had reached 

 since it had been previously set. In the construction of the instru- 

 ment much delicacy is required ; it being so arranged that the mercury, 

 from the effects of heat, passes the glass valve, but on cooling cannot 

 return, the resistance offered being greater than the attraction of cohe- 

 sion between the particles of mercury above the bend and those below 

 it. Tliis instrument is most admirably adapted for ascertaining the 

 temperature of shafts and levels in deep mines, the sea at various 

 depths, and other like purposes. To asceitain the temperature at any 

 moment, it is only necessary to place it vei-tically ; the mercury instantly 

 subsides, and a few seconds will show the precise heat of the atmos- 

 phere. This instrument has given the most complete satisfaction to the 

 Astronomer Rov'al, and mauy other philosophical and scientific indivi- 

 duals and bodies, and the Council oi the Meteorological Society stated 

 that " this thermometer is the best which has yet been consti'ucted for 

 maximum temperatures, and particularly for sun observations ; for as 

 the reading is determined by the entire mercurial column being de- 

 tained at its highest point by simple contrivance within the tube, the 

 necessity for an index is avoided, and with it the constant and distress- 

 ing recurrence of derangement attendant upon the employment of those 

 generally iu use." Almost the first important improvement made in 

 the thermometer — that of enamelling tlie back of the tube, was in- 

 troduced by Messrs. Negretti, but for which, as is too commonly the 

 case, we believe they have not had that justice awarded which the 

 idea deserved. We are led to make these observations, knowing the 

 difficulty frequently experienced by inventors in the introduction of a 

 new insti'umeut, however important, when it is their wish to retain the 

 credit of their own discovery; mauy objects present themselves — as the 

 jealousy of the trade, settled prejudice against what is termed "inno- 

 vation," and private interest — so that in but few instances the desired 

 end is attained. The Exhibition Jury, iu this particular class, evidently 

 took much care in discriminating the works of different exhibitors ;for 

 here we have a firm comparatively unknown to the scientific world, 

 proclaimed, to the surprise of many, as manufacturing instiuments of 

 this description superior to any in the Exhibition of all Nations [vide 

 Report, page 654] — an assertion which we see fully borne out, by their 

 now having perfected an instrument which had long been attempted 

 in vain, most completely supplying a scientific requirement long severely 

 felt. — Minivg Jonnial, 



Electric Telegraphs in India. — It has been announced that 

 the East India Company have determined to establish immediately 

 a veiy extensive system of electric telegraphs in India, under 

 the superintendence of Dr. W. B. O'Shaughnessy, wf their medical es- 

 tablishment It is intended to connect Calcutta, Agra, Lahore, Bom- 

 bay, and M.ndras. and as many of the principal towns and stations as 

 can be embraced in the routes between these places. The distance to be 

 traversed is upward.s of 3000 miles, and it is intended to proceed with 

 such expedition in its construction that its completion may be 

 expected in three years from the present time. Dr. O'Shaughnessy 

 has lately been employed in India in carrying on experiments with 

 the electric telegraph, in order to discover the best system which could 

 be adopted. 



CuARiTV. — ModeiTi London contains, for its nearly three millions of 

 inhabitants, thirteen general hospitals, all of them well appointed with 

 every"api)lian<e for llie relief of suffering humanitj'. In this list we 

 include St. Bartholomew's, St. Thomas's, Guy's, the Westmiuster, St. 

 George's, the Loudon, the Middlesex, University College, Charing- 

 cross, King'.s College, tlie Royal Free, and St. JIary's. The thirteen 

 hospitals contain a collective staff of from 140 to 150 physicians and 

 surgeons, all of whom we must suppose to be fitted for the highest 



duties of the profession. Besides the accredited medical staff of each 

 hospital, at least an equal number of qualified medical practitioners 

 are attached to them as resident medical officer.s, pathologists, regis- 

 trars, and ass. slants of various kinds. The poor persons and others — 

 for all hospital patients are not poor — seeking relief from our hospital 

 system, amount to no less than the astounding number of 300,000 

 annually. We have extracted this amouut, without any wish to exag- 

 gerate, from the best returns, as furnished by the hospitals themselves. 

 The figures will be accredited when we state that the largest of our 

 nosocomial establishments, the Eoj'al Hospital of St. Bartholomew, 

 succours nearly 5,500 in-patients annually ; and that its in aud out 

 patients nearly reach 80,000 in the year. Yet this vast system of 

 relief, and the immense amount of medical and surgical skill consumed 

 iu its bestowal, are nearlj' — we had almost said, entirely — gratuitous. 

 Was ever such a spectacle of gratuitous toil exhibited as that which is 

 involved in these figures ? 



TuRKET IN Europe. — The projected English railroad through the 

 northern Turkish European provir.ces excites much attention there, 

 and is pronounced by the Wanderer to be a matter even more import- 

 ant than the Egyptian Railway. It appears that six English engi- 

 neers have already been examining the country between Constantino- 

 ple and Belgrade ; and in a letter from the latter city to Agram, a hope 

 is expressed that the Servian government will also construct a line 

 from Alexinao (probably Ale-xinitza, near Nissa, on the western fron- 

 tier of Bulgaria) to Belgrade. 



Transmission of Motive Power — M. Fonlaine-Moreau, of South- 

 street, Finsbury, has patented a plan for the transmission of power in 

 lieu of cog-wheels and pinions, straps and bands. This is effected by 

 means of an angularly grooved wheel, with another working therein of 

 a wedge form, and by the grip to be obtained any description of ma- 

 chinery may be set in motion. 



Railway Traffic in Great Britain — The general results of traffic over 

 all the railways in the united kingdom show that the aggregate number 

 of passengers conveyed in 1850 amounted to 72,854,422; in 1851, to 

 85,391,095 ; being an increase of 14.536,673, or 17i„ per cent. The 

 gross receipts from passengers in 1850 amounted to £6,827,761 ; in 

 1851 to £7,940,764, showing an increase of £1,113,003, or 16-3 per 

 cent. The gross sum received for the transport of goods amounted, in 

 1850, to £6,376,907, and in 1851, to £7,056,695, showing an increase 

 of £679,788, or 106 per cent. The gross revenue of all the railways, 

 arising from traffic of all descriptions, which in 1850 amounted to 

 £13,204,668, amounted, in 1851, to £14,997,459, or very nearly £15,- 

 000,000, showiug an increase of £1,792,791, or 135 per cent. 



The Debt of the United States. — According to a calculation by the 

 New York Times, the total amount of the debt of thatcountry amounts 

 to 270,000,000 dollars. The minimum estimate of that portion of the 

 above owned or advanced on, abroad, is as follows : — Federal loann, 

 $40,000,000; Slate loans, $143,000,000; county loans and bonds. 

 $24,000,000 ; country loans and bonds, $2,000,000 ; railroad bonds, 

 $20,000,000 : total, $225,000,000. 



THE CANADIAN JOURNAL 



WUl be published Monthly, and furnished to Subscribei^s for 15s. per 

 annum, in advance. To Members of the Canadian Institute the Journal 

 will be transmitted without charge. 



Persons desirous of being admitted into the Institute, as Members, 

 are requested to commuuicate with the Secretary. The Entrance Fee 

 (including one year's subscriptiou,) is One Pound Currency. 



There are three classes of persons who may with propriety join the 

 Institute. First — Those who by their attainments, researches, or 

 discoveries, can promote its objects by their union of labour, the weight 

 of theii' support, and the aid of their experience. Second — Those who 

 may reasonably expect to derive some sh.are of instruction fi'om the 

 publication of its proceedings by the t/owrna/; and an acquaintance 

 with the improvement in Ait and the rapid progress of Science in all 

 countries, — a marked feature of the present generation. Third — Those 

 who, although they may neither have time nor opportunity of contri- 

 buting much iuformaticm. may yet have an ardent desire to coimtciiance 

 a laudable and, to say the least, a pati'iotic inidertakiug, — a wish to 

 encourage a Society where men of all shades of religion or politics may 

 meet on the same friendly grounds : nothing more being required of 

 the Members of the Canadian Institute than the means, the opportunity, 

 or the disposition to promote those pursuits which are calculated to 

 refine and exalt a people. 



All communications relating to tlie Canadian Institute to bo 

 addressed to the Secretary. All communications connected with the 

 Journal to be addressed to the Editor. Remittances on account of the 

 Journal received by the Treasurer of the Canadian Institute, Toronto 



