Impressed with these inconveniences, I conceive that I have devised a hat perfectly water-proof, and at the same time free from the property of stewing the head, or being spoiled of its beauty by rain, as the ordinary silk-hats are when the glue is drawn through to the nap. I had perhaps better explain it after the fashion of Mrs. Glasse.

Take the frame of a hat, of any fashion which may be most approved, but the material should be a light straw or Leghorn plait. Cover it with a thin film of dissolved caoutchouc, or Indian rubber, such as is used for patent water-proof cloth. Upon this fasten the ordinary silk covering after the usual fashion, and the result wil be a hat weighing little more than three ounces, which will hold water like a bladder, and consequently keep water out. To let forth the hot air and superfluous steam of the wearer, let it be pierced through the upright sides with a multitude of fine holes from the inner side, by which means they will have in the exterior holes a small burr, which will prevent the rain from entering, after the nature of a valve opening outwards. Exit steam! door closed against rain entering. The pin-holes would not be seen amongst the thick nap; and his Majesty's lieges, if such be their title, might be provided with " tiles," putting umbrellas to scorn, looking equally well in rain and sunshine, and only destructible by the actual wearing away of the material. If your insertion of this, in the pages of your "nation-changing" Magazine, may induce any maker of water-proof hats to set a fabric of this kind in hand, you will confer an eternal favour on all the hatwearers of the world, who will uphold you against all the indignation caused by such an inroad upon the vested interests of the hatters, who doubtless will denounce the plan in no measured terms, as a new-fangled" scheme, destructive of the best interests of trade, i. e. destructive of the destruction of hats, which they will probably maintain gives employment to many poor people, and thereby increases the national stock of food!

66

APPARATUS FOR STEERING STEAM-VESSELS FROM THE BOW.

Fig. 1.

Sir,-You have inserted. in your 417th number, an excellent paper on a new method of steering steam-vessels, by Captain Basil Hall, extracted from the United Service Journal for August last.

tiller abaft; for which purpose the wheel A will require to be fitted loosely on the rudder-post, and thrown into or out of gear, by a bayonet-joint, or any of the other usual methods, as occasion may require.

Yours, &c. W. BADDELEY. London, Oct. 8, 1831.

PRINCIPLES OF LOCOMOTION-IN REPLY

TO MR, BADDELEY, p. 455, VOL. XV. "Have patience with me, and I'll pay ye all " Sir, I am glad I have drawn Mr. Baddeley into the locomotive contest; I'll break a lance with and then make a couvert of, him. I will show him how his experiment failed to produce that which he sought after. He proves too much (which is always proof negative), inasmuch as he proves, or rather asserts, that a weight in the line bf cannot produce locoinotion, but only rotation of the wheel. Now, it is well known, that a big stone hung on a barrel will roll it over a little stone beneath. Mr. B.'s experiment is right; I am also right; he has not stayed to search for certain limitations," and to consider that by variation of some circumstances we may both be right, but has passed on (knowing he was right) to the conclusion that I was wrong; but no such thing, as I shall show him, His experiments come under the description of those cases mentioned in my theory at p. 197, vol. xv., where "the friction being less than the required power, the wheels will slip round and not go over the obstacles." I request Mr. B. (in order to do justice to myself, and which I claim at his hands, as I have actually ascertained by experiment, such as I say to be the effect) to repeat his experiments under the following most simple arrangements, and communicate the result in your pages. Let him read carefully over the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd “ principles" laid down in my theory at p. 198, vol. xv. Let him think of the remark at "that the wheels to which the p. 197, power is applied must carry all the weight." Let him also think of the wheelbarrow problem, that gem as well as germ of locomotive principles and practice. If he sit in the body of the barrow, the wheel will never surmount any obstacle; but if he stand on the bars at the axle, the wheel will surmount the

greatest obstacle possible. Let him then so load his model, that all the weight shall be in equilibrio on the axle of the wheels to which the propelling weight is to be applied, he will then find his model will surmount the obstacle, unless the obstacle subtend a greater angle than described in my theory, in which case he must lessen the obstacle until locomotion takes place over it; which I expect will be when the obstacle, as a maximum, is about one-thirtieth the diameter of the wheel, this depending on the nature of the materials used. I will thank Mr. B. to study my paper on re-action, at p. 42. The true part of his "fundamental law of locomotion" is borrowed; see my theory, vol. xv. p. 153, bottom of first column and top of second.

If my opponents could agree amongst themselves, I should perhaps despair: they remind me of gourmands over a plum-pudding. "It's not a good pudding," "it's overboiled;""no, it's boiled to a bubble," "it wants brandy;" "ridiculous! there's brandy enough," "there's too much flour," "too little fruit," "pshaw! it's the candied lemon, and nothing else;" nonsense, the eggs are bad," &c.

I am ruminating. The last "quid" is larger than the first, but not "tougher" as you shall see ere long. Yours, &c.

Oct. 3, 1831.

SAXULA

CAPTAIN WHITE'S TREATISE ON THE RATES OF CHRONOMETERS.

Sir,-Being so desirous to afford every reasonable explanation, with respect to my Memoir on the Erratic Propensity of Chronometers, to which you were good enough to give a place in your valuable Magazine, of November, 1830, permit me to request your admittance of the accompanying paragraph, which, although anonymous, should not, perhaps, in this instance, go unanswered. It appeared recently in a provincial paper, and is to the following effect:

"Mr. Editor,-I have read with much attention a Treatise on the rate of Chronometers, by Captain Martin White, and I must confess it has excited my serious apprehension, if that officer's experiments are just (and I doubt not for a moment they must be so) how he accounts for the instances which can be adduced, of watches going to the North Pole, West

Indies, and other parts of the world,without showing the effects he alludes to. Be pleased to give this query a place in your valuable Journal, as it concerns not only myself and the trade in general, but the welfare of the maritime world. AN OPTICIAN,

Plymouth, August 28, 1831.

First, then, (with every apology for thus presuming to meddle with a subject, that may be supposed to belong to the exclusive privilege of science), I do not admit the possibility of a chronometer going to the North Pole, West Indies, or other parts of the world, without showing the effects alluded to in that memoir

and, secondly, I well know, that where the rate of a watch (constructed as these machines usually are) has been subjected to a proper ordeal, it will be a difficult task for an optician, or for any other person, to produce such a case, notwithstanding the marvellous land falls, some chronometers are said to have effected, and this, too, in all latitudes indiscriminately, upon the meridian, as well as at right angles to it. It militates against nature and consistency, and is alike at war with practice, though, as I have already observed, the defect is not irremediable.

When such a phenomenon does occur, I shall feel obliged to any optician to give it publicity, under his real signature, with the necessary observations to prove its reality; I shall be ready, on all occasions, to enter at any length into the subject, though I am quite satisfied it cannot be refuted, even theoretically.

I purpose shortly submitting to your notice, a Treatise on the Tides, &c.; including the alleged junction of the North Sea and Channel streams, the account of which, as it appears in most of the nautical works now extant, seems to be any thing but what it should be.

Yours, &c.

MARTIN WHITE, Captain R.N.

Jersey, Sept. 13.

ESCAPE FROM FIRE.

A trial was this day made in the Bridge-road, Borough, of a new (?) apparatus for effecting the inmates of a house when on fire to escape destruction, invented by Mr. Weeks, Brewer,

59

Stockwell. It consists of a broad sheet of canvass, with numerous loop-holes at the borders, to admit the grasp of persons, who may be in attendance to assist in stretching and supporting the sheet. A number of firemen (of the Protector office) and policemen, having taken hoid of it on the present occasion, several courageous young men leaped upon it from the windows of the first and second floors of a house, without receiving the smallest injury. A long ladder was then brought, and several persons ascended to the roof of the house-at least forty-feet high-from which they jumped, one after the other, and were caught on the escape in an equally safe manner. A Serjeant Norris, of the Police, particularly distinguished himself in these feats.

Several magistrates and scientific gentlemen witnessed the experiment, and seemed to agree in opinion, that of all the means which have been yet proposed for rescuing the inmates of houses when on fire, this simple canvass sheet is the most effective, the most portable, and the most certain of being adopted as an effectual Life Preserver.

Borough, Oct. 19, 1831.

G. R.

SKATING HINT FOR NEXT WINTER.

Sir, In consequence of the great anxiety that has always displayed itself throughout your valuable journal, of affording all the means in your power for the preservation of your fellow creatures from the melancholy and frequent accident of drowning, while enjoying the healthful and amusing exercise of skating, I have taken the liberty of suggesting the following method, which, should it answer, combines

at

once simplicity, convenience, and safety. The hint, I allow, was taken from a paragraph that appeared in your journal some time since. What I allude to, is the custom of one of your correspondents, of attaching his hat by a long string to his coat button-hole; so that if he fall in, his hat is sure to float on the top, and those who draw it out are as sure to bring him with it. Now, suppose a portion of the hat were made air-tight, and lined with such materials as would resist the effect of water,

and that a partition were made as low down in the hat as would just allow room for the head when the hat is on; then, would not the body of air contained in the upper part of the hat be sufficient to support a man's head above the water, at least till further assistance could be procured? The hat might be fastened by a short ribbon or string to the coat, or some equally convenient part of the dress, so that in case of accident the wearer might take it in his hand, and by forcing it below the surface, keep his mouth free from all impediment in breathing. Yours, &c.

Sept. 19, 1831.

JULIUS.

SAXULA'S LOCOMOTIVE PRINCIPLES. Sir, I perceive, by the three last communications of Saxula, that the controversy respecting his locomotive principles is becoming tedious and unprofitable. Every one at all acquainted with the subject must acknowledge, that quite enough has been said on both sides to show where the truth lies. I am now perfectly satisfied to let the case rest in the hands of all those who are competent to decide on the subject; but as it may be considered a want of courtesy not to take some notice of Saxula's last reply, if I may be excused the misnomer for so calling it, I intend to subjoin a few remarks, though not without repugnance at the thought that my time and your pages should be occupied by observations so superfluous.

I hope I shall not offend Saxula, but I must be allowed to offer him this advice, that before he writes again on this subject he would endeavour to get a thorough understanding of it; and especially, that he would try to comprehend what his opponents have written against his theory, particularly the communication of R. C. That he has failed in this, is evident, from his saying that R. C. will be his champion. He will find, that the same opinions which I have given in popular language, are also delivered by him, but in a more scientific form. I do hope, that instead of making captious and futile objections at every step, and fighting his cause with all the doggedness of a partisan, he will yet become a candid, and, as far as may be in his case, an unprejudiced inquirer after the truth. At present, he is too witty to be wise, and

too pertinacious to move an inch farther than his opponents force him-lest, I suppose, he should fall into the trap, which it appears he has a presentiment is wait to catch him. But he ought not to require or expect an explanation of every little difficulty that he may meet with; he should solve it for himself, or at least try to do so, by studying those parts of the science of mechanics which bear on his subject, particularly its first princi ples, with which his communication, in No. 427, shows that he has not made himself acquainted.

Saxula says, that I have perverted the meaning of Emerson, where he says, "that the force applied within to move a machine will be just the same as if the machine was at rest, and the object was to be moved." I admit with Saxula, that Emerson says force, not fulcrum; but I infer, as I did before, that the force being the same, the case is the same; and therefore the fulcrum is at the same point. If it is shifted to the object, the force is modified, and cannot be “just the same." But Saxula chooses to understand by this phrase, that the force is the same in quantity, "neither more nor less." Was there ever any thing so preposterous as though Emerson was not speaking of a given force-as though he could so stultify himself as to utter such a truism. Saxula should give up all pretension to scientific investigation, if he

so reads the works on science.

Saxula has another idle objection. He says that my diagram does not illustrate a locomotive machine, but an action which he is pleased to call statumotive. In a subsequent communication, he explains what he means by statumotion, which, he says, is when the moving power has its point of support fixed to one part of the plane on which the ma chine moves. He illustrates it by a dia. gram, showing weights suspended from ropes, which, passing over pulleys fixed to a post, are attached to a carriage. If this be statumotion, he is very unfortunate in saying, that my diagram presents an instance of it, for the weights there represented, have no other point of support than the carriage which it propels. Saxula must, therefore, coin another word, to express the motion which it represents if it be not locomotion. What would he have, as an instance of locomotion, if my diagram