1 87 1.] Engineering. 393 



than 20 years, while for many years it has been the universal arm used 

 by that army. Although breech-loading carbines had been in use for 14 years, 

 to a limited extent, for the cavalry of England, it was only since 1866 that the 

 principle had been adopted for the army generally. Breech-loading carbines 

 were adopted for the cavalry solely for the purpose of overcoming the 

 'difficulty of loading whilst on horseback. The writer after having described 

 the various breech-loading guns, including the needle-gun, the Chassepot, 

 theAlbini-Braendlin.the Werndl, Henry's, Soper's, Westley-Richards's, Sharp's, 

 the Snider, Remington's, the Berdau, &c, went on to consider the Martini- 

 Henry breech-loading gun, which has been selected for adoption in the 

 British army after a long investigation and practical trial. We shall give 

 a full description of this weapon upon a future occasion. 



Marine Engineering — Docks. — The Somerset Dock at Malta was officially 

 opened on the 16th of February last. Shortly after Malta came into the 

 possession of the British Government in 1814, steps were taken to provide 

 dock accommodation there. The site chosen was the Dockyard Creek, a 

 small inlet of the great harbour. In the commencement a small graving dock 

 was started on the south side of the creek, but the fissures in the rock 

 permitted so much infiltration of water that it had to be abandoned. In 1840 

 the so-called old dock was commenced. It was completed in 1848, and in 

 1857 it was lengthened. The accommodation available at the dockyard was, 

 however, at this time, very inefficient, and it was ultimately determined 

 to construct a new dock, which should be of sufficient dimensions to receive 

 the largest ironclad. The site chosen for the dock is immediately under 

 St. Michael's bastion, where in 1565 the Turks conducted the obstinate 

 and long-maintained siege of the towns of Senglea and Borgo. Before 

 the works were commenced about 300,000 cubic yards of old materials, 

 buildings, earth, and rock had to be removed. This occupied a considerable 

 time, and it was the end of 1866 before the dock itself was commenced. The 

 dimensions of the old and new docks are as follows : — 





Somerset Dock, 



Old Dock 



Depth to floor 



34 feet 



25 feet. 



Width between copings 



104 ,, 



82 „ 



Length on floor 



430 „ 



301 ,, 



Width of entrance 



80 „ 



73 5, 



Considerable difficulties were experienced in making the -excavations, nume- 

 rous fissures having been encountered through which flowed large quantities of 

 water. The smaller of these were stopped before the masonry was laid ; 

 in the larger ones cast-iron pipes were laid and the water carried off until the 

 masonry was completed, after which the pipes were closed. The stonework of 

 the dock is laid throughout upon the solid rock, the backing being of an 

 inferior quality of the crystalline limestone of the island, and the floor 

 and sides of a superior quality of the same stone. The thickness of the floor 

 is 7 feet 6 inches. Of" the first quality of stone 340,000 cubic feet were 

 employed, and of the second quality 190,000 cubic feet. The entrance 

 to the dock is closed by a sliding caisson, which runs back into a tunnel 

 excavated in the rock beneath the Senglea bastion. The engine house 

 contains two 60-horse power engines, which drive three centrifugal pumps, 

 each of which throws a stream 3 feet in diameter. 



A paper containing "An Account of the Basin for the Balance Dock 

 and of the Marine Railways in connection therewith, at the Austrian Naval 

 Station at Pola, on the Adriatic," by Mr. Hamilton E. Towle, of New York, 

 U.S., was recently read before the Institution of Civil Engineers. It was 

 at first intended that excavated docks should be formed, but in consequence of 

 the volcanic and treacherous nature of the ground, this idea was found to be 

 impossible of execution. A floating dock, basin, and railway system was 

 therefore decided upon, the dock adopted being that known as Gilbert's Balance 

 Floating Dock. The dimensions of the Basin are as follows : — 



VOL. VIII. (O.S.) — VOL. I. (N.S.) 3 E 



