396 LITERATUBE A>'D THE FIFE ARTS. 



leaving the hammer to fall (as others do) by its gravity alone. The fact that this 

 change may be made while the hammer is at work shows the great advantage of 

 Mr. Najior's arrangement over that of others, and is more striking even to those 

 who do not profess an intimate acquaintance with steam hammers. By having a 

 short blow as effective as a long one, a grenter number of blows can be given in the 

 same time, and all practical men know the advantage of striking the iron while it 

 is hot. The hammer weighs about 6 cwt., and its greatest fall is but 18 inches. It 

 is very simple in its construction, yet beautiful in its details. To show its extraor- 

 dinary power one instance will suffice. \\ r e were shown a bar of iron six feet long 

 three inches wide, and three-quarters of an inch thick, which had been drawn at 

 one heat in eight and a half minutes out of an old block of machinery not more than 

 12 inches long, thus producing out of the old scrap of iron a bar of new iron of the very 

 best quality. The principle of this hammer has been patented by Mr. Naylor, who 

 considers it equally applicable as a riveting machine for boiler making and iron ship- 

 building, as well as for iron making, smith's forging, stamping ore, and, indeed, for 

 all purposes requiring the process of hammering ; and to meet every end, it can be 

 ■worked by elastic gas, compressed air, steam, or vacuum. — Norfolk Newt. 



NEW IRON' LIGHTHOUSE. 



Lieutenant Meade, U. S. Topographical Enginee. s, has designed a new iron light- 

 house for the Florida Reefs. It is now in process of construction by Philadelphia 

 manufacturers. The structure will be 150 feet in height, and 50 feet in diameter 

 at the base. It is built in the form of an octagon, strengthened by eight cast iron 

 columns outside, from which braces and ties extend. The sections, one above the 

 other, are equally well made and secured. The braces are of the most substantial 

 character, but unenclosed. 



LITERATURE AND THE FIXE ARTS. 



SIR WILLIAM HAMILTON. 



The announcement of the death of this illustrious philosopher, which took place 

 since our last issue, has been received with the deepest sorrow by all who are capa- 

 ble of appreciating the fruits of his literary labors, and his wonderful intellectual 

 endowments, which fitted him for far greater contributions to his favorite depart- 

 ment of mental science, than he has accomplished. 



Sir William was the lineal representative of the Hamiltons of Preston, an ancient 

 Scottish family, celebrated in the history of Scotland's covenanting struggle, the 

 head of which was created a baronet in 1673. The title had been dormant for 

 seme time, until it was assumed by Sir "William in 1816. He is succeeded in the 

 Baronetcy by his eldest son William, born in 1830, now in India. 



Sir William wa3 born in Glasgow, on the 8th March, 1788. He had thus com- 

 pleted his sixty-eighth year. After studying at the University of that City, he 

 went to Oxford on the Snell foundation, where he obtained first class honors. He 

 was called to the Scottish bar in 1813. In 1821 he was appointed Professor of 

 Universal History in the University of Edinburgh ; and in 1836 he obtained the 

 chair of Logic and Metaphysics, which he occupied to the period of his death. 



he following notice is extracted from the Scotsman : 



