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Mr. Morton thought that the theorist would concur 
with the practical man in condemning the narrow-topped 
chimney, for it was well known that if the orifice through 
which any fluid passed was lessened, the friction was 
increased in a much greater ratio than the ratio of the 
diminution of the orifice. Thus, if the bore of a pipe was 
lessened to one -half, it did not follow that the opposition 
to the passage of the smoke, or water, or gas was only 
doubled ; it was in reality much more than doubled ; and 
as smoke became more rarified and increased in bulk the 
higher it ascended, the bore of a chimney ought to be much 
larger at the top than at the bottom. The principal object 
of his rising, however, was to make a suggestion as to the 
means of ascertaining what the engines in Yorkshire did as 
compared with those used in the Cornish mines ; for it was 
no disparagement to Mr. Hartop to say that in Yorkshire 
there was very great ignorance on the subject. In Yorkshire 
no man knew what his neighbours were doing with respect 
to the fixing of their steam boilers, the form of their boilers, 
or the work their boilers can do. Would it not, then, be of 
advantage if some system like that pursued in Cornwall were 
adopted here ? The statistics of the Cornish engines were 
generally very complete, though probably they might be at 
times incorrect. Still, the balance of correctness over error 
must be very large, and he would therefore suggest that re- 
turns should be made, by the coal-owners and others, of the 
form and construction of their boilers, the mode of their fix- 
ing, the number of horses' power of the engine, the quality 
and quantity of the coal consumed, the cost of working, the 
quantity of work done, and the amount per annum that it 
costs to keep the boiler or engine in repair, and the circum- 
stances under which accidents occur. This might be done, 
very economically, by this Society sending out sheets to the 
proprietors of engines, to be filled up with the particulars 
required. They might or might not fill them as they 
pleased, but great good would arise if they did so. 
Mr. Wji. West said he had a strong impression that if 
ever such information was obtained, it would be obtained 
by societies like this, and not by individuals. He had made 
a great deal of individual inquiries on one branch of this 
subject, but hitherto without effect, for he either got 
answers so vague and contradictory that they could not 
be depended on, or no answer at all. His attention had been 
directed to ascertain the proportion of fuel consumed to the 
quantity of water evaporated from the boiler, and that 
information he had sought in vain. After all his inquiries 
he could find no light thrown upon the question. He had 
asked the engineers on the Leeds and Selby Railway 
