16 



gentlemen connected with the engineering department, to 

 whom Mr. Solly suggested that the accident had been owing 

 to the vibration of the wheels on the rails, said he attributed 

 it solely to the original bad cold short quality of the iron. He 

 mentioned this subject, as it might be of importance to the 

 public, whose lives might be endangered by the - liability of 

 axletrees to break. The investigation of this question Mr. 

 Solly considered as the peculiar province of a Polytechnic 

 Society, and he hoped it would be by them taken up, as it 

 had already attracted a great deal of attention. It was dis- 

 cussed in the Mechanical Section of the British Association, 

 at Manchester, last week, and a grant of £150 was made 

 for Mr. Fairbairn and a Committee to ascertain if any, and 

 what changes take place in the internal constitution of metals 

 when exposed to continual vibration and concussion, as in the 

 case of the axles of locomotive engines. Messrs. Newall, 

 the well known wire rope manufacturers, told Mr. Solly's 

 brother last April, that they found not only that fibrous iron 

 becomes granular by vibration, but that granular iron, by 

 being constantly bent backwards and forwards, becomes 

 fibrous. Mr. Solly concluded his remarks by saying, that 

 the most useful object would be to find the remedy, and he 

 understood it had been ascertained, that very careful anneal- 

 ing is indispensable for all iron axletrees. 



Mr. Wilson then exhibited the head of a spear, which 

 had been found twenty-four feet below the surface of the earth, 

 in the valley of the Calder, near Fairies' Hill; and a piece 

 of the rock of Gibraltar. 



A vote of thanks was then passed to the Chairman, for 

 his able services in the chair ; and to Mr. Hartop and Mr. 

 Solly for their papers. 



