1854.] 



MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. 



173 



Testament hitherto held by him. A lecturer is to be appointed to re- 

 lieve Dr. M'Caul by instructing the junior classes in Hebrew. The 

 Chair of English Literature and Modern History is filled by the nomin- 

 ation of Mr. G. W. Dasent, of Magdalen Hall, Oxford, Doctor of Civil 

 Law. 



Academy op Sciences, Paris. — M. Elie de Beaumont has been 

 elected Secretary of the Paris Academy of Sciences, in the room of 

 the late M. Arago. M. Dupin contested the place with M. de Beau- 

 mount. The number of votes were — M. Beaumont, 29 ; M. Dupin, 

 17. It is understood that M. Leverrier is to be appointed Keeper of 

 the Observatory. 



The Greatest Ancient and Modern Ships.— At the Institution of 

 Civil Engineers a paper was read on ocean steamers, in which was the 

 following statement : — 



Tonnage, External bulk. 



Ptolomasus Philopater's ship.... 6,445 tons 830,700 cubic ft. 



Noah's Ark 11,705 " 1,580,000 " 



Contrasting with these a few modern ships, it was found that 



Great Western 1,242 tons, 161,100 cubic ft. 



Great Britain 3,445 " 446,570 



Arctic (American packet) 2,745 " 356,333 " 



Himalaya 3,528 " 457,332 



and, calculating by the same rules, taking the dimensions given in the 

 prospectus of the Eastern Steam navigation Company, their 



Proposed iron ship 22,942 tons ...2,973,598 cubic ft. 



Thus the new ship is just double the size of Noah's Ark. 



The Persia, to be built by Mr. Robert Napier, of Glasgow, for the 

 Cunard Company, to ply between Liverpool and New York, will be 

 about 45 ft. broad in the beam, and extend in length to 360 ft. ; and 

 the tonnage will be 3060. The engines will be 100-in. cylinders, with 

 a 10 ft. stroke. Although no part of this immense vessel has yet been 

 set up, the framework is in rapid progress ; and it is believed that she 

 will be ready in twelve months hence; 



A Real Gold Mine in England. — At last the mining world of 

 London has been electrified by the astounding news that the copper 

 mine in Cornwall, called by the name of Tremollett Down, is nothing 

 less than a veritable mine of gold, the mundic, of which the supply is 

 said to be inexhaustible, having yielded to two separate tests the enor- 

 mous result of eight ounces of pure gold per ton, thus placing this now 

 celebrated mine deservedly at the head of all the mines in Europe in 

 point of profit ! It is understood that the fortunate shareholders are 

 to have a meeting immediately, to subscribe for two of Berdan's ma- 

 chines, with four basins each, and a steam engine, capable of raising 

 and reducing 100 tons per month, which, at 8 ozs. per ton of gold, 

 makes the Tremollet mundic worth Z01. per ton, or, at 1000 tons per 

 month, 30,0002. ; whilst the cost of raising and reducing this auriferous 

 pyrites will not exceed, royalty included, 5000/., leaving a nett profit 

 of 25,0002. per month, or 300,0002. per annum, which would make 

 each share worth 4001. 



Forster's Wrought Iron Plates. — The Gateshead Observer has 

 the following remarks on these extraordinary plates :— " Wonders 

 never cease. We have on several occasions noticed the extraordinary 

 productions of the Derwent Iron Works, at Consett — to wit, a rail 

 which quite eclipsed the sea serpent, and plates of a ton weight, of 

 vast breadth and length, for which a prize medal was awarded by the 

 Commissioners of the Great Exhibition, and other things equally ex- 

 traordinary. But now Mr. Forster the Manager at these works, has 

 outshone himself, and produced what really seems incredible — four 

 wrought-iron plates, 1J in. thick, 5 ft. broad, and no less than 17 ft. 

 3 in. long ! Think of such plates, as long as a good comfortable 

 room, and weighing no less than 1 to 14 cwts. each ! How men can 

 lift such things at all, to say nothing of doing so when they are at an 

 intense white heat, is what we cannot comprehend. And how they are 

 sheared, too. Think of a pair of neat scissors quietly clipping the 

 edges of such plates, 1J- in. thick ! If this does not "whip creation" 

 we do not know what does. These large monsters have gone to Glas- 

 gow, to astonish the natives there, and are to be used as engine-beams, 

 being much lighter and stronger than cast-iron ones. 



Consumption of Atmospheric Air. — The total produce of pig-iron 

 for the year 1850, was estimated at 2,380,000 tons. In order to 

 produce this quantity there were consumed 9,500,000 tons of coal 

 2,500,000 tons of ironstone, and the ores operated upon could not 

 have been less than 7,000,000 tons. But the most remarkable fact in 

 connection with the iron trade is the immense weight of atmospheric 



air required in the various blast furnaces, and which although gene- 

 rally considered as so light in its nature, has yet considerably exceeded 

 in weight that of all other materials consumed. One of the large 

 furnaces of South Wales consumes 12,508 cubic feet of air each minute 

 in supplying the oxygen necessary to the combustion of the fuel, To 

 supply the air consumed on an average in each furnace requires an 

 engine of 25-horse power. Engines of nearly 12,000 horse power are 

 constantly employed to drive the " breath of life " into the glowing 

 masses within the furnaces of the United Kingdom. Each furnace on 

 an average sucks in 17,000 gallons of air per minute, or five tons 

 weight per hour. The number of furnaces in blast in 1850 was 459; 

 the aggregate weight of air, therefore, required during that period to 

 keep life in these fiery monsters was not less than 55,080 tons daily, 

 or 20,049,000 tons during the year — a quantity exceeding in weight 

 the totals of the coals, ore, and limestone consumed in the process of 

 smelting. 



Mileage or Railways. — The mileage of railways in England is 

 5288 miles 5 furlongs 211 yards; and in Wales 348 miles 5 furlongs 

 203 yards. Mileage of the railways in the United States 14,064.25. 



Novel Application of Glass. — The Prussians have put glass to a 

 novel use. A column, consisting entirely of glass, placed on a pedestal 

 of Carrara marble and surmounted by a statute of Peace six feet high, 

 by the celebrated sculptor Ranch, is about to be erected in the garden 

 of the palace of Potsdam. The shaft will be ornamented with spiral 

 lines of blue and white. 



Institut Cauadicn* 



The ninth Annual Meeting of the Institu te canadien was held last 

 week, and gathered the elite of the French Canadians of Montreal. 

 We see with pleasure by this report that this society is constantly pro- 

 gressing and promises to be one of the most useful and important in- 

 stitutions of our country. Our readers will be ready to endorse our 

 opinion when they hear that during the year 43 meetings were held, 

 17 questions discussed and 6 lectures delivered; that its library had 

 an increase 730 volumes, making the present number 2,701; that 66 

 newspapers were received in the reading room ; that its ^membership 

 has increased to 499 ; that its receipts have exceeded by £54 lis. 6d. 

 its expenses. A society exhibiting such signs of life and prosperity 

 cannot fail of exerting a powerful and beneficial influence upon the 

 community. 



We will only add that the Institut Canadien has been incorporated, 

 and it is proposed to adopt measures to secure a building lot and 

 erect a suitable edifice for its use. — Le Semeur Canadien. 

 Canadian Canals* 



November Traffic. 



1852. 



1853. 



Welland Canal , 7,579 1 6 8,237 7 4 



St. Lawrence 3,172 13 5 2,954 7 10 



Chambly 197 9 4 137 19 8 



St. Ann's Lock 117 10 131 8 8 



Burlington Bay 



Canal 819 6 906 11 1 



Previously this year. 



11,885 5 9 

 .70,954 2 2 



12,367 14 7 

 81,496 15 5 



Total 72,839 7 11 93,864 10 



Grand Total of Tonnage of Vessels passing through all the Canals. 



1852. 1853. 



Nov 270,544 255,811 



Previously this year 1,740,937 1940,265 



2,017,481 2,196,076 



Grand Total of Merchandize passing through all the Canals. 



1852. 1853. 



Nov 203,354 210,706 



Previously this year 1.246,221f 1,497,484£ 



1,708,190} 



Total l,449,575f 



