210 



SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. 



[1853, 



be altogether removed ; there ■would also be no charge for lock-keepers, 

 uo towiug-paths to keep in repaii', and all ueccssity for pumping water 

 ■would at ouce disappear. But the greatest ecouomy of all -n'ould arise 

 in the cost of haulage. Every caual boat requires at least a staff of 

 three men constantly present, and fresh for duty — one to drive the 

 hoise, another to steer the boat, and a tliird to ruu forward to get the 

 locks ready. Of course, a laige number of persous, and four at the 

 least must be on board, to enable certain of their number to rest wheu. 

 necessary. These men, besides the cost of a fresh horse at every 

 twenty miles, must be kept iu pay for each boat, -which, on an average, 

 conveys only fifteen tous of cargo. Now, under Mr. Lake's system, 

 three men only ■n-ould be necessary for a whole traiu of boats, as uo 

 i^toerers are necessary ; and -n-ith a thirty-horse engine, which ilr. 

 Lake proposes to use in practice, the traiu might be "of almost iudeii- 

 nilc length. The resistance of the water to a canal boat, moviug at its 

 usual speed, is about six times smaller tlian that of the resistance to a 

 goods' train moving on a railway at a speed of twenty miles an hour — 

 at which rate it is essential to carry goods on a railway, to keep the 

 road clear for the passenger trams — and a ten -horse engine issutHcient 

 to draw 1000 tons on a level line of caual, at a speed of thi^ee miles an 

 hour. As for the inclines, when once the engine has passed their sum- 

 mit with a traiu occupying the whole length of the mcline, it matters 

 little how many boats are on the level below, for they are then certain 

 of being raised. Upon the whole, the greatest grossload which could 

 be on the inclined plaue at any one time could not exceed I2U tous, 

 and the present engine of ten-horse power takes over a gross load of 

 fifty tous. Making the most liberal allowance for every detail of ex- 

 penditure, the calculation giv.,s from 7d. to 8d. \>ev mile as the cost of 

 carrying 30J tons ou Mr. Lake's system — an immense advantage as 

 compared with the existing one, which is at least ten times greater, 

 aud even with railway transit 



Such are the merits of Mr. Lake's invention, which, if the Eeport 

 before us may be relied on, and we suppose it maj-, promises to restore 

 the canal interest iu England to something like the position which it 

 lield previous to the coustruction of Railways. That interest suflered 

 almost annihilation at the hands of its more modem competitors ; but 

 in view of the heavy carrying ti'ade in iron, coal, and those articles of 

 bulk aud weight least profitable to Railways, aud better suited to 

 canal purposes, seeing that the charges of the "latter may now be very 

 considerably reduced, whilst the time of ti'ansport will be much im- 

 proved, there is sb^oug ground for Uie behef that canal ])roperty mav 

 to a great degree recover its value, and be again brought into active 

 aud successful operation. To us, whose canals are upon a larger scale 

 involving the open navigation of our lakes, this invention would appear 

 to be of slight importance, for we shall never embark in any but ship 

 cauals, to -fl-hich it is iuapphcable, and which can alone be preferred 

 (and then only uuder pecuhar conditions and in particular localities ) 

 -to railways. We have considered, however, that the proposition is 

 sufficiently ingenious and interesting to justify its insertion in our 

 columns, and to recommend itself to the perusal of our subscribers. 



SCIEIVTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. 



The Meteoiology of 1853, 



_ It is only witliin comparafively few years that observations of sufii- 

 cient accuracy have been made to enable us to arrive at any exact 

 conchisious as to the great meteorological phenomena which are 

 constantly occmrmg around us. By the estabhshmeut of certain fixed 

 points m selected localities, where observations are re<'ularlv made 

 with instruments that have beencarefuUv prepared, and bv the's^'stem 

 of regisicnug these upon the forms furnished by the Royal" Observatory 

 at Greenwich— to wliich establishment tliey are returned, and thei'e 

 careful y reduced by Mr. James Glaisher-we obtain results which will 

 uo doubt eventually enable us to deduce some law of action that we 

 cannot at jireseut detect. By the information afforded by Mr Gl-iislier's 

 quarterly return, publislied by authority of the Registrar-General we 

 may uow examine all the meteorological conditions of 185'' ■ a -l-ear 

 remarkable fcr its pecuhar character,— |ireseuting very simrular condi 

 tions ol temperature, and yet more exti-aordiuary falls of rain "We 

 have carelnUy gone through all the returns made by Mr Glaisher— 

 those for the last quarter uot having been yet issued to the public -—and 

 from them w-e are able to present our leaders with a digest which will 

 register all the more remarkable phenomena. 



During the quarter ending March 31st, the liighest observed teraner- 

 "; M ^% • ="1 *r^l'<=f' «'■ »'«' Wakefield. The inaximum tern, eXe 

 at the Royal Observatory was GS = -4 :— the lowest observed tem oerat re 

 was 17 <= at Uckfield and 21 = -3 at Greenwich. The m;!,, tein Jeralu e 

 over the kingdom, fiom Gla.sgow in the north to Helstouc iu Cornwall 

 on the south, ™ 'H ^--h During the same period, the mean of the 

 barometer wa.s 20-818 inches; the height in iVbrnary e.vceeding that 

 in January at all placcs-the difference increasing with the increase 



of latitude. It is worthy of remark, that during the ■winter months of 

 1851-52 — that is, the quarter ending in February, 1852 — the mean 

 temperature of the air at Greenwich was 40 ^ ■1,— bting 4 = "2 above the 

 average of eighty years. This appears to have been due to the higher 

 temperature of the gulf stream which flows agaiust our western shoi es ; 

 the ocean having a temperature of from 8 'to 10 = higher than the 

 land during the whole winter. Thus, if fi-ost appeared, tlie shghte&t 

 change of wind to the southward brought air warmed b3' the ocean 

 over the land, and the temperature was immediately elevated. 



From the commencement of the year to February the 9th, rain fell 

 on twenty-three days, — but from the 18th to the end of the quarter, 

 rain fell on six days only, and to small amounts : — the entire quantity 

 of rain withm the quarter being 4^7 inches. 



During the quarter ending Juue the 30th, the highest observed tem- 

 perature was 79 ° at HartweU House, Norwich, — the maximum at the 

 Royal Observatory being 74 '^•7. The lowest observed temperature 

 was 22 ° at LinslaiJe, the minimum at Greeuwich being 2G = ■". — the 

 mean temperature for the quarter 51 ° '2, whicli was somewhat below 

 the usual average. A deficiency of rain prevailed until the cud of 

 April ; butiu Juue the fall exceeded by more than double the average 

 amount, the sum in inches being 7^0. In April, there fell but half an 

 inch of rain, — in May, nearly 2 inches, and in June, 4'6 inches. The 

 mean of the barometer during this period was 29"764. 



The quarter ending September 30th presents some peculiarities; 

 being remarkable for the great heat of July. — very ti^equent aud severe 

 thunderstorms, — frequent and heavy f ,11s of rain,— and a large excess 

 of rain. The highest observed tempeiature was 95 ° at Leeds. 93 ° .7, 

 at Holkham, and 93 ° -5 at "Wakefield. The lowest temperatuie was 

 31 ° at Aylesbury and "Wakefiald, — thus exhibiting at the latter place 

 the extraordinary range of 62 = -5. The highest temperature at Green- 

 wich was 90 = '3, the lowest 40 = -9;— the mean temperature of the 

 air for the quarter being for the kingdom 61 ~ S. The mean teniper- 

 atnre of July 5 was 14 ° in excess above its average value, aud the fol- 

 lowing day it was in excess 12 ° . The rain was 6-6 inches above the 

 average of thirty-seven years: — being iu the several months of thi* 

 quarter 2-3 inches in July, 4-5 inches in August, aud 3^6 inches in .Sep- 

 tember, — or, 10^7 inches in the three months. 



In this period there were several most remarkable fells of rain in 

 dift'erent parts of the country. At Korth Sheilds 31 inches fell hi I9i..' 

 hours on the 10th of July ; aud between the 2Gth and 29th of Septem- 

 ber the amount of rain at the same place was 6.4 inches. At Grantham 

 the falls of rain were very heavy. On July 5, I'G inch fell in about aii 

 hour, and ou the 2nd of August 0.3 fell in ten mmutes. Similar heavy 

 fidls, doing much damage to the crops, occurred at Norwich, South- 

 ampton, Aylesbury, Newport, Falmouth, "Wakefield, aud York. Indeed, 

 in every part of the country the rain phenomena assumed a very un- 

 usual character. The rain "fell on the least number of days at Duiimo, 

 Guernsey, Greenwich, Norwich, and Holkham,— and on" the greatest 

 number at Royston, North Shields, "Wakefield, aud Leeds. The least 

 falls took place at Dunino, Leeds, and Gainsborough, — aud the mean 

 amount at those three places is 7-0 inches. The largest falls occurred 

 at North Shieds, Stonyhurst, Uckfield, and Ryde,— and their mean is 

 15-3 inches. The menu atmospheric pressure "for the quarter, 29-9111 

 inches. 



The last quarter of the year 1852 presented a temperature 4° -6 

 above the average of eighty years;— the temperature of the last mouth, 

 December, being 8 ° .8, and that of November 6 = .5 above the average 

 of the same number of years. Mr Glaisher in his rejiort remarks :— 

 '•■ The daily temperature was below its average value till October 19, 

 and it was aUeruately in excess and defect from October 20 to October 

 29. Ou October 30, a period of warm weather set in, of lomier contin- 

 uance at this season of the year t/iau am/ on record. Tlie mean temper- 

 ature of the mouth of November was 48 ° .9 ; being 6!., = iu excess of 

 the average of eighty year.s, during which period one instance only of 

 a higher temperature has taken place— viz., in 1818, when the averao-e 

 temperature of this month was 49 = . The mean tcmpeiatuie of Dec- 

 ember was 47 = -6 ; exceeding the average of the month by no less than 

 8?:i °. aid being of higher temperature than any Deceuiber as far as 

 our records extend. The nearest approach to this value was iu 1806, 

 ■when the mean temperature of December was 46 = .8." The highest 

 observed temperatures were 67 = at Jersey, Helstoue, and Chi'swell 

 Street, and 66 ° at Manchester. The lowest temperatures for the quar- 

 ter were 23 ° at Dunino, 24 ° -8 at Nottingham, aud 25 => at York. The 

 mean oi the Barometer being 29-710 inches. 



Tlie q^uarter was distinguished by a continuance of the heavy falls of 

 rain jvhicli characterized the preceding ona. In many places the rain 

 which fell within this quarter was equal to that which occasionally 

 falls m the whole year. 



The largest falls of rain were at North Shields, the qu.-mtity being 

 23-6 inches,— at Truro, 22-6 inches— at Torquay, 23 inches— at Guern- 

 sey, 22-3 inches— and at Newport, 22 inches. "The mean of these gives 



