1 873. ] Engineering, 137 



system of rifling employed, and the short stud bearings of the shot necessitated 

 by that system, it is sufficient to state that his conclusions are fully borne out 

 by other authorities. Mr. Charles Merriman, F.R.S., the principal of the 

 Royal School of Naval Architecture at South Kensington, says that " the 

 consent of all mechanicians and engineers with " whom he has ever conversed 

 was absolutely unanimous in the condemnation of the Woolwich system of 

 rifling, and that he had never heard of any serious defence of it," The results 

 of th& Glattou experiment also confirm the unanimous testimony of unbiassed 

 artillerists, of mechanicians, and of mathematicians, that the rifle system 

 which "has decidedly the lowest velocities" has necessarily the least 

 penetrating power; and Admiral A. C. Key, C.B., F.R.S., the former Director- 

 General of Naval Ordnance, lays it down as a rule that without " penetrating 

 power, at ranges up to 1200 yards, all other qualities are useless," 



Railways.- -Among the new lines of railway now approaching completion, 

 we may notice the Mexican Railway, connecting the port of Vera Cruz with 

 the capital of the country. It is 263 miles in length, with a branch 29 miles 

 long to the city of Puebla. Leaving the port of Vera Cruz, the line runs up 

 towards the mountains of the Chiquihuite, rising about 1600 feet in a distance 

 of 53 miles ; it then reaches the Tierra Templada, at a height of 4000 feet in 

 84 miles, and finally overcomes an elevation of 8043 feet on the^ borders of 

 the great Mexican plateau, or Tierra Fria. In reaching this last elevation 

 some very heavy work presents itself", steep gradients of 1 in 25 combined 

 with curves of 350 feet radius, are frequent over a distance of 22 miles, and 

 there are several viaducts and bridges of considerable size. The gauge of the 

 line is 4 feet 8£ inches, and the engines, carriages, &c, will be all adapted to 

 the sharp curves they will have to traverse. 



The official list of new projects to be submitted to Parliament during the 

 ensuing session comprises 280 plans of all classes, of which number 159 are 

 railway schemes, 13 are tramway bills, and 65 are bills of the miscellaneous 

 class. The railway schemes are chiefly provincial, although there are some 

 which affect the metropolis. With regard to the latter there are, first, the 

 City and West End Railway, which is a proposed line from the Metropolitan 

 Railway at the Kensington Joint Station to Farringdon Street, the route being 

 by way of Great Windmill Street to the Metropolitan Railway at the 

 Farringdon Road Station. There is a new street between Tichborne 

 Street and Rupert Street, and another between Holborn and Great Queen 

 Street in connection with this scheme, besides which it is proposed to widen 

 several streets along the route. The East and West Metropolitan Junction 

 and Cannon Street Railway is a scheme for a line from the Metropolitan 

 District Railway at Cannon Street to the Metropolitan Railway at Aldgate, to 

 the East London Railway, and to the North London Railway at Bow. The 

 Metropolitan and St. John's Wood Railway Company are seeking to connect 

 their line with the Hampstead Junction Railway and the Midland Railway, 

 and to construct a branch, line to Kingsbury. The Hammersmith Extension 

 Railway is a proposed line from the Metropolitan District Railway at 

 Kensington to the Broadway, Hammersmith. The London Central Railway 

 Company are seeking powers to form junction lines with the Great Northern 

 Railway near the passenger station at King's Cross, and to effect a junction 

 with the Metropolitan Railway near Osnaburg Street, Euston Road, and 

 another junction with the same railway near Upper Fitzroy Street, 



The Brighton, Eastbourne, and London Railway, which has already been 

 before Parliament, is again brought forward. The Great Eastern and Felixstow 

 is a line from the Westerfield station of the Great Eastern Railway to Felixstow. 

 The Great Northern Railway propose to construct branches from their own line 

 at Fletton to the London and North Western at Orton, and between their 

 Nottingham and Grantham Branch at Barrowby to their main line at Barkston ; 

 they also seek powers for a railway from the termination of their authorised 

 line at Melton Mowbray to Leicester, with three branch lines. 



The Great Western Railway Company are seeking powers to make a line 

 from Stourbridge to Kidderminster and Bewdley. some lines at Wrexham, 



vol. in. (n. s.) t 



