318 British Association for the Advaticement of Science. 



converse of the Davy Safety Lamp,) consisted in fixing a piece 

 of wire-ganze at the extremity of a gas-pipe of about 6 inches 

 diameter. Bulk for bulk, gas costs more than coal, but the for- 

 mer was more economical and convenient for occasional use and 

 the smaller operations in cooking.— Mr. Evans gave account of 

 a new rotatory stea7n-engine, invented by S. Rowley. — Dr. Lard- 

 ner stated the reasons which had prevented the making of the 

 experiments for the Report on Railivay constants. — Mr. J. Price 

 communicated an improved method of constructing Railivays. 

 The method consists in fixing rails on a continuous stone base, 

 a groove having been made in the stone to receive a flange or 

 projection of the lower side of the rail. The stones and rails 

 are to break joint with each other, and the chair by which the 

 rails are to be secured, is to be made fast to the rail by a bolt not 

 riveted, but slipped in. The chair is to be sunk until the top 

 is level with the top of the stone, and fastened to it by two 

 small wooden pins. Any sinking of the road is to be obviated 

 by driving wedges of wood underneath the stone, until it is 

 raised to the required height. The chairs are to be fixed at 

 about 4 feet apart, and to weigh, if of malleable iron, 14 pounds, 

 but if of cast iron, 20 pounds : the rail to weigh 50 pounds per 

 yard. 



Mr. T. Motley presented a paper on the constructioji of a raihoay 

 with cast-iron sleepers as a substitute for stone blocks, and with 

 continuous timber bearing. The cast-iron sleepers, which are 

 wedge-shaped and hollow, having all their sides inclined inwards 

 towards the under side, are to be laid transversely, and the timber 

 is to pass longitudinally through the center, and to be secured by 

 wedges of iron and wood. The sleepers are to be six inches 

 apart, and the timber of such a thickness as to prevent any per-- 

 ceptible deflexion between the rails. The road is to be ballasted 

 up to the top of the sleeper, and the timber to stand out suffi- 

 ciently, and to have any approved rail laid upon it. 



Mr. Hall described a machine for raising water by an hydrau- 

 lic belt. Mr. Samuda gave an account of Cliff'' s djry gas-meter. 

 Mr. T. Sopwith described his method of constructing geological 

 models. Mr. S. also described an improved levelling stave, for 

 subterraneous as well as surface levelling. The mode of reading 

 the figures of the stave itself instead of the sliding vane, as adopt- 

 ed by most engineers and surveyors, is used in Mr. S.'s improved 



