150 Progress of Invention. 



extent, for it was found necessary to withdraw the men for the re- 

 quirements of the harvest ; but enough has been done to show that 

 it is possessed of very considerable interest. It appears also to 

 have been a workshop, for the remains of erections built of stone, 

 somewhat like forges, have already been found ; and amongst the 

 loose objects scattered about the floor was the bowl of an iron 

 ladle, which appeared to have been used for pouring out melted 

 metal. Among the other articles which have been gathered from 

 the small extent of excavation yet made, are a great quantity of 

 earthenware and glass — some of the latter of very interesting cha- 

 racter ; and, among the pottery, two handsome ornamental bowls 

 of Samian ware ; two iron rings ; a very curious finger-ring, made 

 of amber ; a bronze fibula ; an ornamented bone roundel ; a bronze 

 scale-pan, with three equidistant holes ; two hair-pins ; a small 

 pellet of enamel ; a white disk of bone, like a button, but without 

 a shank ; nine Roman coins ; and a piece of sandstone, with a frag- 

 ment of an inscription. The buried part of the Old Wall has also 

 been uncovered, and all that has been yet done, though very small 

 in extent, gives promise of important discoveries. 



A very remarkable discovery has recently been made on the site 

 of Wigmore Abbey, in Herefordshire. In digging for some works 

 of construction, the workmen came among some very extraordinary 

 subterranean buildings, which soon assumed the form of a very 

 large passage, wide and lofty, and was followed for, we believe, at 

 least a hundred feet ; and, with the old legendary notions about 

 abbeys and castles, was assumed to be a passage for secret commu- 

 nication between Wigmore Abbey and Wigmore Castle, a distance 

 of about a mile and a half. However, a little consideration was 

 sufficient to convince us that it was simply the great drain of the 

 important Abbey of Wigmore ; and, as such, it is a very remarkable 

 monument of the internal economy of these great mediaeval esta- 

 blishments. T. W. 



PROGRESS OF INVENTION". 



Improved Application of Superheated Steam. — It is found 

 more economical, as far as fuel is concerned, to increase the pressure 

 of steam by superheating it, than by causing the evaporation of an 

 additional quantity of water. There is a limit, however, to the 

 decree of temperature to which the superheated steam can be 

 raised : since, if its temperature is too high, lubrication will be im- 

 perfect, or impossible, on account of the charring of the oil. Super- 

 heating is applied very effectually in a new engine recently con- 

 sl meted for the water supply of the city of Paris. This, like 

 Wiiolf's engine, consists of two cylinders, the steam passing from 

 < nic into the other; but instead of the steam passing directly from 

 one cylinder to the other, after leaving the Brat, it is made to 

 traverse tubes which are placed in the furnace near the chimney. 



