dition, and safe custody of the collection committed to his care.

7. That it is desirable that the heads of each department shall meet once in three months, for the purpose of consulting with reference to any matters of detail relating to the internal arrangements of the Museum, which they may desire jointly to submit to the Trustees in writing.

8. That whenever there may be a vacancy in the office of principal Librarian, or in that of Secretary, it is desirable that the distribution of the duties now discharged by those officers respectively, including the Expenditorship, be re-considered, and that the office of Secretary be not combined with the Keepership of any department.

9. That it is desirable that the hours during which the Museum shall be open on public days, be hereafter from ten o'clock until seven throughout the months of May, June, July, and August; and that the readingroom be opened throughout the year at nine o'clock in the morning.

10. That it is desirable that the Museum be hereafter opened during the Easter, Whitsun, and Christmas weeks, except Sundays and Christmas-day.

11. That it is expedient that the Trustees should revise the salaries of the Establishment, with the view of ascertaining what increase may be required for the purpose of carrying into effect the foregoing resolutions, as well as of obtaining the whole time and services of the ablest men, independently of any remuneration from other sources; and that when such scale of salary shall have been fixed, it shall not be competent to any officer of the Museum paid thereunder, to hold any other situation conferring emolument or entailing duties.

12. That it is desirable that the heads of departments do consult together as to the best method of preparing on a combined system, an improved edition of the Synopsis of the Museum; that each officer be responsible for that part which is under his immediate control, and attach his signature to such part, and that the work be prepared in such a manner as to enable each part to he sold separately, which should be done at the lowest price which will cover the expenses of the publication.

13. That it is expedient that every exertion should be made to complete within the shortest time, consistent with the due execution of the work, full and accurate catalogues of all the collections in the Museum, with a view to print and publish such portions of them as would hold out expectations of even a partial sale.

14. That it be recommended to the Trustees, that every new accession to the Museum

be forthwith registered in detail, by the officer at the head of the department, in a book to be kept for that purpose; and that each head of a department do make an annual report to the Trustees of the accessions within the year, vouched by the signature of the principal Librarian, of desiderata, and of the state and condition of his own depart

ment.

15. That it be recommended to the Trustees to take into consideration the best means of giving to the public a facility of obtaining casts from the statues, bronzes, and coins, under competent superintendence, and at as low a price as possible.

16. That the Committee are well aware that many of the alterations, which they have suggested, cannot be carried into effect, except by increased liberality on the part of Parliament, both with respect to the establishment of the Museum, and also to a much greater extent, for the augmentation of the collections in the different departments; but they confidently rely on the readiness of the representatives of the people to make full and ample provision for the improvement of an establishment which already enjoys a high reputation in the world of science, and is an object of daily increasing interest to the people of this country.

17. That the Committee, in the alterations which they have suggested, do not mean to convey any charge against the Trus. tees, or against the officers of the Museum, whose talents, good conduct, and general and scientific acquirements, are universally admitted; and they are aware, that where imperfections exist in the collections, those imperfections are mainly attributable to the very inadequate space, hitherto available for their exhibition, and to the limited pecuniary means at the disposal of the Trustees, and they are of opinion that the present state of the British Museum, compared with the increasing interest taken in it by all classes of the people, justifies them in the recommen dations contained in the above resolutions.

18. That the Committee, having taken into consideration the petition presented to the House by Mr. Charles Tilt, and referred to the Committee, which petition prayed for public assistance in the preparation of a work from the medals in the British Museum, and having taken evidence on the said subject, consider that in no way can they more satisfactorily discharge the duty confided to them by the reference in question, than by simply laying before the House the Minutes of Evidence so taken, and ordering the petition of Mr. Charles Tilt to be paced as an appendix to that evidence, and to these reso lutions.

REPARATION OF BLACKFRIARS' BRIDGE.

Report of the Select Committee appointed to consider the practicability of Widening and Improving Blackfriars' Bridge, and to Report their Observations thereupon to the House; and to whom was referred the Petition of Inhabitants of Chatham-place, Blackfriars, in the city of London; and who were empowered to Report the Minutes of the Evidence taken before them to the House:-Have considered the Matters referred to them, and have agreed upon the following Report:

The attention of your Committee was first directed to the necessity of widening Blackfriars' Bridge, and upon this point the witnesses concur in stating, that the present width of the bridge is not sufficient for the traffic over it, and that accidents have frequently happened from that cause. The width of Blackfriars' Bridge, within the balustrades, is 41 feet 10 inches, upwards of 12 feet less than the width of London Bridge. Blackfriars' Bridge could be sufficiently widened, at an expense of about 32,000l., during the repairs now in progress; but if the present opportunity is lost, the expense of widening the bridge, at any future period, would be more than double the sum for which can now be effected.

Mr. James Walker, the engineer employed to superintend the repairs of the bridge, has produced before your Committee a plan and model for widening Blackfriars' Bridge, the particulars of which are stated in his evidence. By widening the bridge, a change will be produced in the style of its architecture, by the removal of the columns over the piers. Upon this point your Committee have been attended by Mr. Mylne, the son of the engineer who built the bridge, but, after due consideration of the objections stated by Mr. Mylne, your Committee do not consider them of sufficient importance to prevent the widening of the bridge upon the plan produced by Mr. Walker.

In addition to the substantial repairs of the bridge, the Corporation of London have entered into arrangements for raising the carriage-way at each end of the bridge; and, after taking into their consideration the petition upon this subject from some of the inhabitants of Chatham-place, Blackfriars, in the city of London, your Committee have no doubt that the houses at each end of the bridge will be rather benefited than injured by raising the roadway at each end of the bridge.

The sum of 90,000l., authorised to be raised by the Act of the 3d and 4th William IV., c. 118, for the repair of Blackfriars' Bridge, will not be more than sufficient for the repairs already contracted for by the

Corporation of London; and it appears your Committee that the Bridge-House es tates, upon the surplus of which the sum of 90,000 is charged, are not capable of providing for more than the amount of the pre sent charges upon them, and that the Cor poration of London have no other fund applicable to such a purpose.

Under these circumstances, your Committee are of opinion that the sum for widening Blackfriars' Bridge should be charged upon the fund for improving the approaches to London Bridge, consisting of the rate or duty of 8d. per ton on coals imported into the port of London, and the sum of 11,500l. per annum, and other sums paid by the Corporation of London, after the payment of the present charges thereon; and as the sum necessary for that purpose will not occasion a continuance of the duty beyond the period of eight or nine months, they do not see any objection to such a course.

Your Committee, being of opinion that the present opportunity of widening Blackfriars' Bridge should not be lost, recommend that a Bill be brought into Parliament, in the present Session, for the purposes aforesaid. July 1, 1836.

EUPHRATES EXPEDITION.

The following extract of a letter is from the Hampshire Telegraph, and furnishes information of the progress of the expedition up to the 5th of May:-" After many tedious delays and vexatious annoyances, we completed the transport of the vessels and stores, to our station near Binjulo, in February. My vessel, the Euphrates, 200 tons, 50 horse-power, having the Colonel on board, made a trial up the river, on the 17th of March, and commenced the descent on the 19th: we seldom steam more than from 25 to 30 miles in one day, as we are obliged to have the boats on a-head for the survey, and the officers return by land to pilot the vessels. We have been twice aground, once for fourteen days, and again for three; the Tigris joined us at Kara Bam Boutch on the 18th April; she has also been aground for some days. We have been detained here some time, expecting a caravan of stores from Aleppo; on its arrival we shall push on to Giabour, where the Tigris is now waiting for us. Our scientific departments have made great progress, and, from the ample fields of Syria and Mesopotamia, have made abundant specimens, both in the geology, natural history, and topo

APPLICATION OF STEAM-POWER TO THE

CULTIVATION OF LAND.

Sir,-During the last twenty years steam-ploughs have been frequently on the tapis, and perhaps ere long we shall see them going about and undertaking to plough fields for whoever may desire their assistance, and with very little more preparation than is now required to place a portable thrashing-mill. About the time that the Leeds Railway was done, when high-pressure engines were much improved, the idea of thrashing by steam led me to think of making a portable plough, applicable to all kinds of land. Now that public companies are forming that will require the use of such things, perhaps my old plan may be useful to some of them. I send you, therefore, a description of it, that you may publish it as soon as convenient.

The prefixed sketch shows my arrangements, made long ago, both for ploughing and harrowing land by steam-power. AA represent a piece of land to be ploughed; B, a carriage on small wheels (or rollers if the ground is soft), which carries the steam-engine to work the wheel C; D is another carriage, at the opposite end of the field, to carry another wheel E. On these two wheels I put an endless chain or rope FG, which, when worked by the steam-engine, will draw a plough H and harrow I in different directions; and when they arrive at the end, I cause both the carriages Band D to be moved the width of the furrow, either to the right or left, and reverse the motion of the engine to draw the plough and harrow back again. In place of an endless chain, a common one with cylinders will answer the same purpose, by using proper conducting pulleys on the opposite carriage. To mention any smaller details, I presume, is useless. I am, Sir,

Your obedient servant,
J. DICKSON, C.E.

9, Charlotte-street, Blackfriars-road,

June, 1836.

STEAM versus WATER.

(From the American Mechanics' Magazine.) Few persons, even in this age of inquiry and improvement, seem to be aware of the vast superiority of steam over every other form of motive-power. Many are still, by this assertion, reminded of the anecdote of

the famous Brindley. In giving evidence before a Committee of the House of Commons on the subject of Canals, he spoke of their superiority as a mode of communication in such decided terms, that a Member asked for what he thought rivers were intended? he unhesitatingly replied, to feed canals." Now, though we say that the manufacturer will one day "feed his boiler from the falls," we think that the assertion is not a bold one, and that it does admit of proof.

Some time ago, our attention was directed to a comparison of the expense of the two forms of power in the village of Lowell, possessed of the best water-power in the Union. The expense of steam to water was said to be as 100 to 125.

We have since often had this subject in mind, in reference to the more improved use of steam, and particularly to the economy of the rotary-engine of Avery,

Pursuing the comparison, we have collected some of the more prominent disadvantages of the usual hydraulic system, and the corresponding advantage of steam-power.

of lo

The first item of cost is that of the waterright, over and above the value of the ground as increased by any other advantages of cality. This expense is in no case trifling, and sometimes is positively enormous. There is, of course, no corresponding item of expenditure in the use of steam, an engine working as well on the top of a hill as in the bottom of a valley.

2d. The outlay upon wheels, dams, and other hydraulic works. This is often much greater than would be necessary for the average pressure, provided it were constant

that is, we are to erect works to support much more water than we have supplied through three quarters of the year. Freshets, &c. are to be provided against, at an increased cost. It is well known that in some locations the provision for such contingencies is no small portion of the whole capital employed.

It is this expense, other things being equal, that is to be compared with the cost of an engine, and the comparison is favourable to the latter.

3d. After every precaution, damages from floods are of constant occurrence, and their repair is exceedingly costly.

4th. The delay caused by freshets, &c., producing a stoppage from the too great supply of power.

5th. The delay in seasons of drought, when the supply is insufficient.

These last are most vexatious occurrences, preventing work often times when most is to be done, and the uncertainty arising from the possibility of such delays and accidents, is a constant care to the manager of such an