EJTGINEEBDfG AND ARCHITECTURE, 201 



against that routine which dares not tread a path unknown to precedent. Let us 

 proclaim our triumphs and the means by which they have been accomplished. So 

 shall we command confidence, and we shall doubly merit it if our self-love permits 

 us to record our failures, for they are the guide posts to success. 



So much machinery is now being put in motion in every part of the Province ; 

 our Lakes and Rivers are ploughed by a fleet of steamers so rapidly augmenting, 

 and our Railways are attaining so great a magnitude, that the peculiar pursuits of 

 the " Mechanical Engineer" have already become of vital importance to our commer- 

 cial prosperity, and whatever tends to promote economy and efficiency in the con- 

 struction and working of motive power deserves the best attention of all who are 

 interested in that trade which the geographical position of Canada 13 so well cal- 

 culated to develope. 



Those who are charged with the practical superintendence of machinery must 

 have presented to their minds modifications of the working parts, of which a more 

 complete developemeut might be productive of important results. Such sugges- 

 tions, if recorded, would doubtless be fruitful of others, and data would thus be 

 accumulated of immense value. The History of the Steam Engine, especially of the 

 Locomotive, is prolific of instances of the value of experimental research, and both 

 the power and speed now attainable on our Railways are due to a change in the 

 relative dimensions and adjustments of the valves of the Engines so limited 

 that the difference would escape the notice of any but the most observant, though 

 it is a difference that has doubled the duty of the machine in proportion to the con- 

 sumption of fuel. Again we have recent instance of a descrepancy in the per- 

 formance of two magnificent Marine Engines, built in every apparent particular the 

 counter-part of each other, so considerable as to justify us in concluding that although 

 not detected, a variation must exist in some important part, which if developed 

 might suggest modifications beyond the reach of theory unaided by experiment. 



The consumption of fael requisite to produce a given effect in steam machinery 

 is a subject which claims our most careful attention, and every improvement that 

 tends to economise that important article widens the sphere in which steam ma- 

 chinery can be advantageously applied ; and while it is no uncommon occurrence 

 to see a given duty performed by one engine at an expenditure of fuel less by one- 

 half than is required by another, we may be sure that our efforts in this direction if 

 intelligently pursued will not be in vain. 



Believing that the Mechanical Engineer has an ample field wherein to exercise 

 his talents, we have every confidence in the value of the opportunity offered by the 

 pages of the Canadian Journal for recording the numerous improvements made in 

 that branch of the profession, and for diffusing a general knowledge of those obser- 

 vations and improvements which, though only of trivial importance in detail, are of 

 great consequence in the aggregate. We invite all who are engaged in such pur- 

 suits to contribute the results of their observations, in the belief that the seed thus 

 sown will yield a fruitful harvest. A. B. 



THE BROCK MONUMENT. 



This structure progressed very rapidly last year, and only awaits the return of 

 the working season for its completion. The Monument itself, exclusive of the fosso 

 enclosure, is already erected, and the scaffolding removed. The stone lions on the 

 angles of the sub-basement are now set up; and the bas-relief of the Battle of 

 Queenston will be completed by Messrs. Cochrane & Pollock of Toronto, in suf- 

 ficient time to be inserted in the Pedestal of the Monument in May next. 



