mented rapidity! As to the remainder of the month, " nous verrons," as the French say; but, what with rain and melted snow, as yet it has had but little tendency to "drought." Mr. Murphy had better have let old Francis alone in his glory! The Keraphonite.-Amongst the presents on the table at the last meeting of the Royal Society, was an ingenious silver acoustic instrument, invented by Mr. Curtis, the King's Aurist, called the Keraphonite; it is fixed on the head for the purpose of collecting sound, which it does better than any contrivance hitherto employed. The one presented to the Society was made by Savigny, and is remarkable for its beauty of workmanship. The instrument, if such we may call it, consists of a spring, which goes across the head, terminating at either end in a small horn (hence, probably the name), which rests on the ear.-Literary Gazette. Rickets's Gas Stove.-This invention is for warming apartments where there is no chimney, and places where stoves have been used, but where the unsightly appearance and unpleasant effluvia arising from the piping are objectionable. The following is extracted from a pamphlet lately published, and which describes various new uses to which gas is applicable:-" The writer has taken particular notice of a gass-tove, fixed last autumn, by Mr. Rickets, in St. Michael's Chapel, Burleigh-street, Strand, which only cost the sum of 14., and answers remarkably well; consuming but from fifteen to twenty feet of gas per hour, whilst the attention is simply confined to lighting the gas over night, when the chapel is rendered of a comfortable temperature for morning service, a thing very uncommon, and only practicable by this mode; as every church, whether heated by steam, or hot water, or warm air, is dependent on almost an hourly attention to a fire in some part of the building. The Rev. Septimus F. Ramsey, the minister of the chapel, in answer to a letter of inquiry, states, "It affords me great pleasure to be able to say that the gas stove, which has been erected in my chapel, has exceeded my most sanguine expectations, inasmuch as it gives a greater heat than my old warm air-stove, which cost the sum of 1217." ,, Fire-Engines and Fire-Companies-Postscript by P. R.-I observed in my last that the question stood as originally put, viz., Why is Mr. Braithwaite's steam fire-engine not used for the purpose of extinguishing fires, or arresting their progress? Mr. Baddeley in answer to "Fire-Fury (No. 698), says, referring to the machine, "All do not admit (some even deny it) of its being an effective instrument (" for both purposes"), and, THEREFORE, it has not been adopted. This is meeting the question. Let Mr. B. first settle that to which he has given the preference, viz. as to whether the firecompanies are or are not irresponsible bodies, and we shall meet him on the second, and I will only observe, that if the fire-companies place no reliance on the efficiency of the steam fire-engine, which Mr. Baddeley declares to be the fact, and which Mr. Braithwaite as distinctly denies (see his several letters), sufficient evidence may be adduced to prove that Mr. Baddeley's premises are incorrect, and that the conduct of his undeserving friends is no less unjustifiable in this particular case than in their conduct towards Mr. Baddeley himself. This disposition to take advantage of the labours of others, and withhold, not only remuneration, but common courtesy, will not avail the Companies in every instance, and I entreat Mr. Baddeley not to overlook it henceforth as he appears to have done, and the more particularly in his promised detailed account of the comparative merits and capabilities of steam and manual power as applied to fireengines, which will doubtless include the new marine-engine, to be worked by three gangs of thirty men each! If this is to be worked on the voluntary system, Mr. Braithwaite will be blown out of the water; but the ninety-man power item must not be overlooked. Dec. 28.-[In my letter of the 9th current," For " is substituted for "Nor" in the third paragraph, which renders the context senseless.] Collier's Patent Boiler.-Sir, Mr. Collier has stated in the public papers that his boilers effect a saving of half the fuel; and he has, in your 698th Number, not hesitated to call in question the character of the gentlemen at Woolwich who reported to the Admiralty the performance of them in the Meteor. Will Mr. Collier now admit or deny, in your Journal, unequivocally, the veracity of the Report to the Admiralty, which states the consumption of fuel in that vessel during her experimental trips in the River, &c. to have been fully as much as with the ordinary boilers. Or if he does not rely upon the performance of the Meteor, as to the saving of fuel, will he be good enough to say where or in what vessel such fact has been ascertained. It is a great pity, Sir, that the noble cause of scientific improvement is, too often without scrutiny, allowed to be damaged, almost past repair, by the wretched fashion (to give it no worse a name) resorted to by many inventors of putting forth statements not warranted by experiment. Of course, I do not class Mr. Collier with such, unless his reply to the above shall be found to fail him.— I am, Sir, &c., T— H—. Improvement in Fire-Tongs.-Sir, In Number 602 of your useful and entertaining Magazine, I informed you of an invention of mine for preventing lumps of coal slipping from the chaps of the tongs in carrying them from the coal-scuttle to the fire. I now find, that by boring holes through the chaps of the tongs, opposite each spike, and countersinking them on the inside, is an improvement on the original invention, as it permits the chaps to come closer together, and the points of the spikes are defended from injury, being sheathed in the holes.-I am, &c., J. BULLEN.-Bath, Jan. 2, 1937. The Supplement to Vol. XXV., containing Title, Table of Contents, Index, and Plate of Specimens of English Medallic Engraving by Mr. Bate, was published on the 1st of December, price 6d. British and Foreign Patents taken out with economy and despatch; Specifications, Dis. claimers, and Amendments, prepared or revised; Caveats entered; and generally every Branch of Patent Business promptly transacted. A complete list of Patents from the earliest period (15 Car. II. 1675,) to the present time may be examined. Fee 2s. 6d.; Clients, gratis. Patent Agency Office, Peterborough-court, Fleet-street. LONDON: Published by J. CUNNINGHAM, at the Mechanics' Magazine Office, No. 6, Peterborough-court, between 135 and 136, Fleet-street, Agent for the American Edition, Mr. O. RICH, 12, Red Lion-square. Sold by G. W. M. REYNOLDS, Proprietor of the French, English, and American Library, 55, Rue Neuve, Saint Augustin, Paris. CUNNINGHAM and SALMON, Printers, Fleet-street. CURTIS'S TIMBER-FRAME RAILWAY. Sir, I beg to forward a plan of my timber-frame railroad, which I carried into effect three years ago in Mexico. A small length has been laid down in the workshops of the London and Greenwich Railroad Company, and which has been in use for about eight months without the smallest deterioration up to the present moment. I have made a public exhibition of it during all this time, and recommended it to various Railroad Companies; and to the Southampton Railroad Company I presented a model in January, last year. This model, I have no doubt, is now in the possession of the Company. I make these observations in consequence of your publishing, in your last week's Magazine, the plan of a railroad on the same principle by Mr. Vignoles. That two parties, perfect strangers to each other, should propose similar methods for effecting the same object, is perfectly intelligible; but, as amongst imaginative men, there is great tenderness felt upon the point of priority of their inventions, I send the enclosed, with its explanation, that you may lay the same before the public. Your readers will not fail to note in what respect we agree in principle, and how differ in detail. I am perfectly convinced that no method is so good as the frame-rail in all cases, and more especially in madeground embankments. I have found in Mexico, a climate as hot as Jamaica, that although I have put the timber in green, the made-up jointing is so excellent, that the tendency which all timber has to twist only makes the joints stiffer. Putting in the timbers in 10-feet lengths requires no cross-tie, but a longer length does so. The rail, as I have drawn it, is formed of 9-inch planks placed on edge; the sleepers and cross-ties are made also from planks. at a', and its under tennon midway into the same mortice of b, when the sleeper is thus held firmly between both rails, and two treenails passed through the The upper surjoint makes all secure. face of the timbers is then shod with an iron bar, which is secured by wood screws countersunk. A har of iron, a quarter of an inch thick, and 2 inches wide, weighing 6lbs. per yard, is quite sufficient. I have found that this class of rail, with only hoop-iron of one-eighth of an inch thick, suffers scarcely any perceptible deflection by our heaviest carriages passing over it; and this consequence arises from the iron being held securely between its soffits, and the effect of the load being not to crush it, but to tear it asunderand it is a well-known fact, that a bar of a square inch section will carry a load in the direction of its length, nearly fifty times as great as when bearing (as is the case in the common rail) the load, the two ends of the rail being unconfined. The cost of a lineal yard for a double track will cost about 25s., or 2,2001. per mile. This is a very different state of figures from that shown by Mr. Vignoles; and his arguments being indefeasible, I hope he will excuse me making them a matter of reference. Fig. 3 is a plan of the frame. In the case of a double rail the sleepers b must be continued across, so as to take both lines; c shows the tie-piece with its keys. Fig. 4 is the same thing applied upon an embankment; the sleepers b are prolonged, and the upright part ƒƒ are notched into it; along the top of these parts a rail g is spiked, thus making a very powerful parapet, and at a much method, the whole combination having a cheaper rate than any other possible tendency to hold up the rail. The struts h will furnish such security to the parts as I am certain no engine in ordinary circumstances could ever break through. IN is the soil. Fig. 1, is a side view, in which aa are the longitudinal rails, b the sleepers, c the cross-ties; and the same letters refer to the same parts in all the figures. The mode of jointing is shown in fig. 2. It is thus apparent in what way I secure the two rails and sleeper at one operation, the under tennon of a' entering half way into the mortice of the sleeper b, the rail a is then passed into the scarp Your publishing the above in your earliest Number will much oblige Sir, Your obedient servant, W. J. CURTIS. Deptford High-street, Jan. 10, 1837. 291 The second volume of the Evidence given before the House of Commons Committee on the affairs of the British Museum has just appeared. It would not be easy to name a more interesting volume. Its object alone is a guarantee to the man of literature, of science, or of art, that he will find something in its pages that will come home to his business and his bosom. The way in which it is treated adds another and peculiar attraction; the information is not given as it usually is on such subjects, precisely in that manner and to that extent that it suits an individual to give it; it comes before us here in the shape of the evidence of a number of persons of the most various talents, situations, and ways of thinking, delivered before a Committee almost equally diversified, each member of which has the power of making or pursuing inquiries. The straightforward narrative is varied by the sharp question and the tart reply. The ingenious trap laid for the unsuspecting dogmatist by the opponent of his views, the timely help afforded him by their supporter. All this lends a dramatic interest to a subject which was already in itself sufficiently attractive. To a reader across the Atlantic this ponderous folio, published by order of the House of Commons, would, we are sure, afford more lively amusement than he has often derived from a novel or a magazine; to a reader here, to one who visits, or wishes to visit, the British Museum, who takes an interest in the public institutions of his country, the interest is intense. The volume comprises about seven hundred folio pages, of which about five hundred are occupied by the evidence on the Museum, and the remainder by the returns received from foreign countries respecting similar institutions abroad. We are sorry to be obliged to say, that this Appendix presents a feature which renders it a disgrace to those who ordered it to be printed. These returns are printed at the public expense, and presented to the Legislature of England. It is not consonant with the dignity of either the legislature or the nation, that under these circumstances any other language than the language of the nation should be employed. Till within these few years we believe no paper in a foreign language was ever laid before Parliament, to which an English translation was not added as a matter of course. On some occasion during Earl Grey's administration, in which this was omitted, it was made the subject of remark in the House of Lords, and excused on the plea of hurry. Since then, the Poor-law Commissioners have been allowed, without censure, to lay whole pages of untranslated French in a formal report before the House of Commons, and we see the fruits of their impunity in the Appendix to the present volume. In the report from Sardinia (No. 23) we find pages of French without any translation annexed; in another from the same country (No. 27) a whole pamphlet reprinted in Italian; in that from Bavaria (No. 28) one hundred and twenty-eight closely printed consecutive pages of German, with no translation whatever. The absurdity does not stop even here. The Appendix, No. 22, comprises an account of the public libraries of the Netherlands in Dutch, also without a translation. By some accident one has been supplied to a paper received from Mexico in Spanish; but in the preceding volume that language also was assumed to be universally intelligible, and made use of accordingly. To read this official publication of the British House of Commons, therefore, it is necessary to be familiar with no less than five foreign languages, with French, Italian, Spanish, German, and Dutch. We are certainly speaking within compass when we say that out of the six hundred and fifty-eight members of that House, six hundred and fifty are most probably incapable of reading a single Dutch paragraph. To what purpose, then, this flagrant, this indefensible, absurdity of assuming them all to be perfect masters, not only of that, but of four other languages, of which there are probably many members not acquainted with one; with not one of which, most certainly, the members of the British Legislature are, in that capacity, called upon to be acquainted. The whole proceeding, however, bears upon the very face of it such a character of insane and outrageous folly, that it is needless to waste more words in its exposure. We are glad that it has, by its extravagance, exposed itself. Such luxuriance of abuse must, at once, be put a stop to. If it be not checked now, indeed, we may expect in forthcoming reports on the improvement of education, or the state of commerce, to be presented with untranslated volumes of Chinese and Manchoo-Tartar. The subjects treated of in the Evidence of the present volume are very varied. The deficiencies in the library are ably pointed out by Mr. Edward Edwards; while. the Rev. H. H. Baber, Librarian of the Printed Book Department, and sole selector of the books to be purchased, contends that many of the alleged deficiencies do not exist, and attributes those which he acknowledges to the scantiness of the Museum funds. The attack and defence of the scientific collections are carried on by Professor Grant, of the London University, and Mr. Gray, of the Natural History Department of the Museum, by Mr. Vigors, or Horsfield, and a host of others. The old controversy of the necessity of a classed catalogue is resumed, and Mr. Panizzi, of the Museum, maintains that an alphabetical list of subjects, such as that in "Watt's Bibliotheca Britannica," would be found more useful. A minute inquiry is made into the history of the neglect of various opportunities offered to the establishmentas of purchasing Alcuin's Bible (since obtained), Mr. Thorpe the bookseller's collection of Battle Abbey rolls, and Mr. Upcott's collection of autographs. (We are astonished that no reference was made to the rejection of Dr. Morrison's Chinese library of 10,000 volumes, an object of inestimable value.) Sir Robert Smirke gives evidence respecting the new buildings, and lays before the Committee the plans, so long expected and so long withheld, of the projected edifice. Mr. Hawkins, of the Antiquities Department, and other gentlemen, are examined respecting the expediency of a grant of public money to M. Collas, and the other French re-inventors of the American and English method of engraving medals, for the purpose of enabling them to engrave a British series. Much evidence is given respecting the comparative facilities afforded by foreign establishments, and our own to study and research. These are some of the principal subjects treated of in the present volume of Evidence. A few of them may perhaps be examined in detail in future Numbers of the Mechanics' Magazine, for the present we shall confine ourselves to the comparison between the library of the Museum and its foreign compeers. On this question, a great quantity of information has been obtained by Mr. Panizzi, who, by addressing a series of twenty questions to the authorities of the chief establishments abroad, has obtained a brief summary of the leading features of each. The answers to his questions are printed all together, so as to afford at one glance a comparative view of the foreign institution; but, singularly enough, Mr. Panizzi has omitted to add a similar sketch of the main features of the British Museum itself. We shall take from his paper, which forms the most valuable article in the Appendix, the account of the Royal Library at Paris, well known for the most extensive and one of the most liberally conducted libraries in the world,-the account of that of the Muscum which is placed along with it is our own. The questions are omitted, as, in most cases, their purport is sufficiently pointed out by the answers. Paris. 1. The name of the establishment is "The King's Library." 2. It contains about 650,000 volumes. It is impossible to state even by approximation the number of works. 3. It is divided into four departments: 1st. Printed books; 2nd. MSS. (more than 80,000 volumes); 3rd. Medals, coins, gems, and antiques; 4th. Engravings divided into two sections, one of which is of maps, &c. with distinct keepers. 4. There are two librarians; two un London. 1. The name of the establishment is "The British Museum." 2. The library of printed books (including "the King's,") contains about 240,000 volumes. The number of distinct works is supposed to be 300,000. 3. The library department is in two sections 1st. Printed books; 2nd. MSS. (more than 20,000 volumes, exclusive of charters, &c.) Medals, engravings, &c. belong to the department of Antiquities in the Museum, which embraces several objects not included in the French establishment. 4. There is a principal librarian, two |