46 



MISCELLANEA. 



[1854. 



provements in practical science, lie Las found that an alloy of tin and 

 lead, or of tin, lead, zinc, and antimony, is the most effectual. He 

 rcommends that all the alloy should contain at least as much lead as 

 tin, but not more than 7 or 8 parts of lead to one of tin, the b'on being 

 treated with this composition just as it is usually coated with tin. In 

 a series of experiments on the decomposition of water by the galvanic 

 battery, the patentee found that concentrated nitric acid acted far more 

 powerfully on lead than on iron coated with an alloy of lead and tin. 

 He afterwards made experiments, comparing the action of strong nitric, 

 sulphuric, and muriatic acids, on lead and galvanised ii'on, and iron 

 coated with the new alloy, and found that the latter was far less 

 oxidisable than lead, and very far less than iron galvanised, the zinc 

 coating of which is rapidly dissolved, even by very dilute acids ; hence, 

 iron coated with this alloy will answer all the purposes for which sheet 

 lead, lead pipes, or zinced iron are employed. The addition of a small 

 portion of zinc hardens the coat, but diminishes the power to resist 

 corrosion ; while a little antimony hardens it, and increases its anti- 

 corrosive powers. Stanno-plumbated iron will answer better for wire- 

 rope than iron coated with zinc, as it will resist the action of sea-water 

 better. It is preferable to lead, as cheaper, more durable, and less 

 subject to changes from variations of temperature ; and it may be used 

 for all the purposes for which galvanised iron is employed ; it is more 

 easily worked and soldered. It may be used instead of copper for 

 sheatliing ships, and bolts and nails of cast-iron may be employed. 

 As the proportion of tin need not be more than the seventh or eighth 

 of lead, the alloy will be very little dearer than zinc, and from the 

 greater durability, stanno-plumbated iron mnst be quite as economical 

 as galvanised iron. 



The Great SuBTERR.iNEAN Railway. — The preamble of the North 

 Metropolitan Kailway has been declared proved by a committee of the 

 House of Commons. The promoters had a hard battle to tight, and 

 which lasted 11 days, but they triumphed in the end. This interesting 

 and novel undertaldng will commence at the General Post OlEce, in St. 

 Martiu's-le-Grand, and proceed beneath the streets and roads of the 

 metropolis all the way to the terminus of the Great Western Railway at 

 Paddiugton. The entire distance will be 4 J miles. It will cross Smith- 

 iield, and proceed along Fleet Valley to the New-road, taking Coldbath- 

 fields Prison in its way. For the removal of this building the promoters 

 have made an arrangement with the Middlesex magistrates. The terms 

 are, that the promoters of the railway, in return for the ground In 

 Coldbath-fields, are to build a prison for the county of jMiddlesex, not 

 less than sis, and not more than nine miles from London — the building 

 to contain accommodation for 1.500 prisoners, with 50 acres of ground 

 attached, so as that those of the prisoners who have not learned in-door 

 trades may be made to perform rural labour, in accordance with the 

 industrial principle on which the prison is conducted. Three miles of 

 the North Jletropolitan Railway will run underneath roads, or unoccu- 

 pied property, which will considerably lessen the expenses incident to 

 the construction of the line. The entire estimated cost is 1,000,0007. 

 The Subterranean Railway will join the Great Northern, the London 

 and North Western, and Great Western lines. The stations are to be 

 at Victoria-street, Clerkenwell, King's-Cross, Euston-sqnare, Hamp- 

 stead-road. Osnaburg-street, Baker-street, Edgware-road, and oppo- 

 .site the Great Western Hotel, with a branch to the Great Western sta- 

 tion. Trains will start every five minutes. The time required to per- 

 form the journey will be a quarter of an houi-, and the fares for the 

 whole-distance will be 2d. for the third-class, 4d. for the second class, 

 and 6d. for the first-class carriages. The North Metropolitan Rail- 

 way will, therefore, be a great accommodation to the people of London, 

 and will doubtless have an immense traffic. — At a special meeting of 

 proprietors, on Monday, the solicitor read the heads of a Inll, for ex- 

 tending the authorized line to the Great Western Railway and to the 

 General Post- office, when a resolution, approving the bill, was carried 

 unanimously 



SoAPSTOSE. — A new building material is coming into notice in New 

 York which promises to supersede everything else. This is steatite 

 or soapstone, either in its pm-est state or in combination with other 

 rocks. Its common qualities are perfectly familiar. It is so soft that 

 it can be cut with a chisel, planed, bored, sawed, or turned in a lathe. 

 Yet it resists pressure very well indeed, particularly when mixed with 

 the harder ingredients, such as hornblende or serpentine. In beauty 

 it is often found equal to marble, with even a greater variety of ap- 

 pearance. It bears an excellent polish, and, if broken, can easily be 

 mended, by using its own powder as cement, so nicely as to be detected 

 pnly by a critical examination. A house of this material was 



built at Northampton in 1807, and it is said to be still standing fresh and 

 clear, to all appearance as if it had encountered only the rain of our last 

 watery spring. The stone may be heated to a white heat, and then 

 gradually cooled, or plunged into cold water at the option of the 

 experimenter — and in eitlier case it does not shell off nor crumble. 

 Wet granite, as we all saw at the Irarning of the Custom-house, posi- 

 tively exploded in the heat — the flutings of the pillars, for instance, 

 leaping off 2 or 3 ft. If therefore, soapstone should be employed for 

 flooring as well as for walls (and there is no reason against it), a per- 

 fectly fire-proof building would be the result. So, if the assertions 

 of all the chemists turn out to be correct, we have at last found out 

 the very perfection of building materials. But they are testing the 

 matter in New York, and we shall soon hear. — Portland (U.S.) Adver- 

 tiser. 



The Precious Metais in England. — At a time when the extrac- 

 tion of gold in England occupies so much attention, the following 

 account of the presence of silver in England may prove interesting. 

 An immense silver mine was worked in the vicinity of Aberystwith, 

 in the reign of Elizabeth, by which a company of Gennans enriched 

 themselves ; after whom Sir Hugh Middleton accumulated 20007. a 

 month out of one silver mine at Bwlch-yr-Eskir, by which produce he 

 was enabled to defray the expense of bringing the New River to Lon- 

 don. After him, Sir. Bushill, a servant of Sir. Francis Beacon, 

 gained from the same mine such immense profits, as to be able to 

 present Charles I. with a regiment of horse, and to provide clothes for 

 his whole army. Besides this he advanced, as a loan to his Majesty, 

 no less a sum than 40,0007., equal to at least four times the amount 

 of the present currency ; and he also raised a regiment amongst his 

 miners at his own charge. 



LuMBERINe ON THE LiNE OP THE GrAND TruNK RAILWAY. The 



railway to Montreal has turned the forests along its line into gold. 

 One of the leading and one of the earliest objections urged against the 

 plan of the railway from Portland to Montreal, was the character of the 

 country through which it was to pass. " The howling wilderness," so 

 graphically depicted in the speeches of the friends of some of the rival 

 lines, has been found, but instead of proving any discouragement to 

 its friends, turns out a noble business for the railway. A timber 

 township furnishes more business for the road than three ordinary 

 farming townships of equal extent under good cultivation 



Substitute for Gutta Peroha, &c. — M. Sorel, C.E., of Paris has 

 patented some improved compositions to be employed as substitutes for 

 caoutchouc, gutta percha, and certain fatty bodies. The principal 

 bases of these compositions are the following substances : — Colophony 

 or common resin, bitumen or natural pitch, or the pitch obtained from 

 gas-works, fixed resin oils, gutta percha, hydrated lime, and water. 

 The above substances are employed (by weight) in about the follow- 

 ing proportions : — Colophony, 2 ; pitch or bitumen, 2 ; resin oil, 8 ; 

 hydrated lime, 6 ; gutta percha, 12 ; water, 3 ; pipeclay or other like 

 argillaceous earths, 10. 



Remarlcable Tenaperatiu'e at Toronto d^u-iug July. 



This month has been not only the hottest July, but absolutely the 

 hottest mouth recorded. The mean temperature has been 72°- 5, which 

 is 8°8 above that for August, 1848, the next highest of the whole record- 

 By an inspection of the additional column in the Comparative Table, 

 it will be seen that this July is no less than 6°-3 above the mean July 

 temperature ; an enormous excess, rendered more remarkable by the 

 fact, that hitherto July has been the month of the whole least liable to 

 extreme variations. The column containing the variations of the seve- 

 ral days from the normal tempera tm-e for each day shows, that only four 

 days have been below the normal, all the rest being above. The 3rd 

 day is nearly the hottest that has ever been recorded, having reached 

 81°-3 which is 16°-2 above the mean of that day, and only 0°-7 below 

 July 12th, 1845 (while it is 2°.5 above July 12th, 1849, the two highest 

 previously). Notwithstanding this excessive temperature, the amount of 

 rain fallen is above the averag?, and the number of times that thunder 

 or lightning have occurred is also considerable. 



«,* In the Register for June (see August Number), read Comparative Table for June, 

 insUad of May, 



