6 
POrULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
will enable it to be completely ventilated, unlike the ordinary 
cabin between decks, which is so unpleasant that ladies and 
delicate persons endure the worst weather on deck rather than 
accept shelter in it. 
“But one of the greatest advantages of this saloon is that, 
whatever motion the ship may take from the waves — and this, 
from the adaptation of her form to passivity among channel 
waves, will be slight — the saloon will be practically free from 
it. It is in the middle of the ship, as regards length and 
breadth ; and the axis of rotation is at a height where there 
is least motion ; so that, as regards its position, it is one in 
which the vertical and lateral motions, produced in every part 
of the ship by the pitching and rolling, will be so small as to 
be inappreciable. The cabin will also have no sensible pitch- 
ing motion, for the form of the vessel is such as to make it 
impossible for the sea of the Strait of Dover to raise the ends 
very considerably ; and even the small effect produced at the 
ends of the ship will be reduced by one-seventh at the ex- 
tremities of the cabin. The rolling motion of the ship on the 
intended service cannot be very great, from the resistance of 
her paddle-wheels, her size, form, and speed ; but, such as it 
is, it will not be communicated to the cabin, for the perfect 
action of Mr. Bessemer’s hydraulic apparatus is an established 
certainty, and not a matter of speculation, and it will always 
insure the floor being kept level. 
“ The governing principle of this suspended saloon consists 
of a set of powerful hydraulic apparatus connected with the 
underside of the flooring, and so arranged that, as the vessel 
rolls to either side, the pressure or resistance afforded by the 
water is instantly brought into play and utilised in checking 
the motion. 
“ The floor, beneath the saloon, is composed of riveted iron 
beams, with smaller rafters attached to them. This floor, at 
its ends and at two intermediate points of its length, rests on 
steel axles, of about the diameter of the driving axle of a loco- 
motive. The supporting frames are securely fixed to the 
double bottom of the vessel. 
“ This floor is capable of a motion like the beam of a pump- 
ing-engine ; and if as much dead weight be placed below the 
beams of the floor as will counterbalance the upper part of the 
structure, the saloon will be in a state of equilibrium and capable 
of motion on its axis. In this condition it is liable to be put 
in motion by the movement of passengers or by the force of 
the wind blowing against the upper part. But the hydraulic 
power here applied prevents any such erratic motion, and affords 
means of retaining the saloon in a vertical position at the will 
