A naly ses of Books . 
106 
[February, 
the fourth dimension is a vera causa before tracing out its 
possible consequences. 
The Land Junction of Great Britain and Ireland by an Isthmus 
at the Mull of Canty re. By J. Charles King, Engineer, 
&c. London : R. H. Squire. 
We have here in a brief pamphlet a proposal of startling magni- 
tude. The author proposes nothing less than an artificial 
isthmus running from Torgor Point on the north-east coast of 
Ireland to the south-western extremity of the Mull of Cantyre, 
thus uniting Britain and Ireland, and converting the Irish Sea 
into a land-locked bay. The project cannot be pronounced other 
than bold. But it is certainly practicable if the Legislature 
grants permission, and if the needful capital — which will not be 
trifling — can be obtained. The water way to be built up is, 
according to the author, 19 miles in width, about 200 feet in 
depth near either coast, but 474 feet deep in the middle. The 
current running from the north-west into the Irish Sea is given 
on the author’s illustrative chart as six knots per hour in the 
middle and at the Irish end of the proposed embankment, but as 
“ of great strength ” near the Scottish coast. Still these diffi- 
culties are doubtless not beyond the resources of modern 
engineering. It is mentioned that there are at both ends 
eminences from which the materials could be obtained in suffi- 
cient quantity, and could be run down to the sea by gravitation 
alone. Near the Irish coast there are, indeed, certain hills 
ranging from 980 to 1300 feet in height, which would yield 
almost a sufficiency of rock, &c., as the proposed isthmus is to 
be only about 100 yards in width. The author’s estimate of the 
expense of the undertaking is about two millions sterling. We 
must not forget, however, that the a&ual cost of such great 
undertakings generally falls out very much higher than the 
original estimate. Perhaps if we say £5,000,000 we shall be on 
the safe side. The time required for the completion of the work 
is stated as from two to three years. 
As regards the cost the author makes some very important 
suggestions. He does not propose an outlay of national funds, 
and a consequent increase of taxation. For labour he proposes 
to make use of the able-bodied convidts, now uselessly or harm- 
fully employed in prisons. He estimates that some thirty 
thousand such men could be put to the work at once, and he 
thinks that “ the gain to the state by closing their prisons in and 
near London alone would yield valuable ground worth many 
thousand pounds for yearly rental.” 
But, on the other hand, the thirty thousand criminals would 
