62 
MAGAZINE OF SCIENCE AND ART. 
The indications of the sun gauge represent the total 
amounts of sunshine, or rather of sun’s heat, self- 
registered on the days of observation. The mean extent 
of clond, which of course partially obstructs the sun’s 
rays, arc given for comparison, being taken from obser¬ 
vations at 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. The rcadinrjs of a sun 
thermometer in decrees above the temperature of the 
air are also given, but being single observations, but 
little correspondence can be expected. 
PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 
Ox Wednesday evening, the 12th instant, 
the usual monthly meeting of the above 
Society was held at the Australian Library, 
the Governor-General in the chair. There 
was a numerous attendance of members, 
notwithstanding the threatening appearance 
of the evening. Pour new members were 
proposed, and five new members were ad¬ 
mitted. 
A specimen of artificial stone was exhi¬ 
bited by Messrs. Pensusan and Weston, 
concerning the qualities of which the Go¬ 
vernor stated he had requested experiments 
to be made by Captain Ward. It appeared 
to be of a bituminous character, as it rea¬ 
dily took fire when held in the flame of a 
candle. 
His Excellency then proceeded to read 
the following paper on Railways, which he 
stated was to be regarded as a supplement 
to the paper read by him at the inaugura¬ 
tion of the Society last year, and pub¬ 
lished in our first number. 
RAILROADS. 
In a Paper -which I read to the Society last year, I 
gave a sketch of the development of the railway system 
m England, together with some general remarks upon 
the advantages -which might be anticipated from the ap¬ 
plication of a similar, or, perhaps, I should say analo¬ 
gous, system to New South Wales. 
These advantages I was in a position to assert would 
be very great; but, as my object at the time was to 
bring the question in its broadest features under the 
consideration of the Society and the public, I abstained 
from any attempt to discuss it in detail. I expressed 
no opinion as to the particular character of road, or as 
to the power which it might he advisable to employ 
upon it. These, as I said at the time, were matters 
which ought to be determined by observation and ex¬ 
periment ; and it is with a view to bring under the 
notice of the Society such facts and observations as 
have been elicited in various ways during tho last 
twelve months, that 1 now lay before the members this, 
which may bo looked upon as a supplement to my for¬ 
mer Paper. 
I may remind the members, iu the first place, that 
the subject of railways has been under the considera¬ 
tion of a committee of the Legislative Assembly, and 
that facts and opinions have been elicited during the 
examination of several witnesses, all of which, having 
been printed, are now in the possession of the public. 
In addition to tliis published matter, I have been placed 
in possession of a mass of information having reference 
to the employment of horse power, both on common 
roads, or wooden trams, and on iron railroads; all of 
which has an important bearing upon the questions 
which will have to he determined—namely, the charac¬ 
ter of the road which it would be advisable to construct, 
and the nature of the tractive power to be employed 
upon such road. 
I have also been furnished with a report on the rail¬ 
roads of the United States, addressed to the Committee 
of tho Privy Council by Captain Douglas Galton, R-E., 
which contains much valuable information. Having, 
then, such a mass of information at my disposal, I feel 
that I am now in a position to discuss those questions 
upon which, in my former paper, I declined to express 
an opinion. And as the subject is daily assuming more 
and more importance, whether it be regarded as a mere 
question of economy, or as one, upon the proper solution 
of which the future advancement of tho colony must 
mainly depend, I do not think that the Society can be 
called upon to consider one of greater interest. Before 
I proceed to enquire into the character of the roads 
which it would be desirable to substitute for those at 
present in existence, 1 may as well attempt to give a 
more detailed sketcli of the latter than I attempted to 
do in my former Paper. The following general de¬ 
scription, from personal observation, will apply to both 
the Western and Southern roads. 
From tho terminus of the railroad at Parramatta or 
Liverpool these roads pass, for a certain distance, (some 
twenty or thirty miles) through enclosed property. 
Thev are, as a general rule, badly laid out—that is, 
but little attention has been paid to the form and incli¬ 
nation of the ground. The culverts and bridges have 
in very many instances been constructed of perishable 
materials, and with little reference to the quantity of 
water which would have to pass tlirongh them. Little 
or no attention has been paid to drainage, the soil being 
generally a stony tenacious clay or loam, and the road 
having but in few instances been metalled, these por¬ 
tions of the line are in wet weather almost impassable. 
In dry weather the clay gets baked and hard, and the 
power expended in moving a load upon these roads is 
then a minimum; but the surface is at that time 
covered with a soft impalpable dust, which is not only 
most unpleasant to travellers, but also causes a great 
resistance to traction. From the point where these 
roads enter tho bush, that is, when they cease to be 
fenced in, they do not improve. The difficulties which 
are opposed to locomotion do not diminish, though they 
van in character according to the nature of the country 
through which the roads pass. The observations which 
were made as to the faulty direction of the road, tho 
absence of drainage, the bad construction of culverts, 
&c., apply with as great force to the roads through the 
bush as to those through enclosed land. Where the 
bush is not too dense, it may occasionally he possible, 
where the usual track is very much cut up by traffic, 
to diverge, for tbe purpose of escaping some particular 
obstacles *, yet, when tlie weather is wet, the ground in 
the bush is as saturated with moisture as the road it¬ 
self, and where the crust of vegetable mould, consoli¬ 
dated with roots and vegetable fibres, is once broken 
through, the sub-soil is incapable of resisting the action 
of the wheels, and constant accidents take place. When 
the road passes through a sandy soil, tbe draft, which is 
very heavy in dry weather, is less so in wet; but the 
drains are speedily choakcd by tbe sand brought down 
bv the rain. In rocky soil tlie inequality of surface is 
a*constant impediment to traction, both in wet weather 
and drj*. In the former, as drainage is never attempted, 
the hollows are filled with mud, and the road consists 
of alternations of mud holes and hillocks, the effect of 
which is most injurious upon both cattle and carriages. 
This description, which from personal observation I 
can testify applies to the Southern and Western roads, 
is, 1 believe, equally applicable to the Northern line 
from Maitland, with the additional obstacles arising 
from the more numerous watercourses in that line, 
which, not being bridged, become impassable in wet 
weather; and which, besides the delay and hindrance 
to communication they occasion, entail annually the 
loss of several lives. The correctness of this account of 
