28 HENRY DEANE. 
to more than touch on it at the present moment. To find 
a material which will resist wear or at least render the 
life of the permanent way a longer one is a matter of the 
highest importance, and though excessive wear of railway 
rails is largely due to the excessive stiffness of the locomo- 
tives used, there can be no doubt that the adoption of a harder 
and tougher material for rails is a step in the right direction. 
Some years ago the desire for high carbon was in the 
ascendant, and some very excellent results were obtained 
together with examples of extreme brittleness, owing 
reputedly to excess of carbon. The latest material is 
silicon steel, the use of which seems at first a step in the 
wrong direction, as silicon has always been looked upon as 
a most objectionable ingredient, except in quantities of not 
more than about ‘1%, but Mr. Sandberg first burns all the 
silicon out and then puts back the quantity required, and 
it is stated that when it is thus added it does not bring 
with it the same objectionable qualities but gives great 
hardness and toughness to the steel. The price of the 
steel is higher, amounting from 5/- to 7/6 per ton extra. 
The present Chief Commissioner, Mr. T. R. Johnson, is a 
‘great advocate for its use, and I understand that orders 
have been issued for considerable quantities, both for 
renewals and new lines. I hope my successor in the chair, 
who some years ago interested himself in the subject, will 
find time to pay some attention to this question, which is 
one for the chemist and physicist as well as the engineer. 
New Inventions.—There have been many inventions and 
developments of inventions during the past twelve months 
in various lines of science and engineering, but none I think, 
so captivating to the imagination as Brennan’s Monorail. 
Before this when we heard of the term ‘‘ Monorail’’ we had 
to think of Lartigue or Behr, or the suspended system exem- 
plified on the Eberfeld Barmen and similar lines. All these 
require costly structures to carry them—the latter is a 
