quiry as swimmingly as at the beginning -had they been able to keep the British method as completely in the back-ground as they evidently intended to do—or, better still, had the foreign process turned out to have the advantage instead of the English one-the Report would have concluded in a widely different fashion, and that by this time, we should have had some "liberal" M. P. signalizing his zeal for economy, by rising in the house, and proposing a grant of a few thousands towards the expenses of so truly national a work as a "Histoire Numismatique de la Grande Bretagne," got up at Paris by "Lachevardiere and Co.," with the assistance of the wonder-working "procédè de Achille Collas!"-As it is, the tables are completely turned-the English process comes triumphant from the scrutiny, and the Committee report the evidence.

Many readers of the Mechanics' Magazine, puzzled to account for this conduct of the Committee, have, I know, been inclined to think that, as an abridgment only of the evidence appeared in its pages, the omitted portions may have been more favourable to the French cause than those which have been retained. The fact however, as you, Mr. Editor, must be pretty well aware, is rather the reverse. In pity, perhaps, to Sir Francis Chantrey (whose ignorance on the subject on which he was brought up to give his testimony si most amazing), the abstract omits the whole of that part of his examination relating to the engraving of the medallion of Sir Walter Scott, which threw so much light on the great value of his opinion on the matter. Pitiable, indeed, it must have been to hear a man of the high eminence of Sir Francis testifying in one breath to the accuracy of the French method, and, in the next, acknowledging the distortion it produced, and observing apologetically that he had never observed it till that moment, when it had been pointed out to him by a member of the Committee! The whole affair, as far as he is concerned, gives but a low idea of the confidence to be placed in the mere dictum of a professional man, however high he may be. Sir Francis Chantrey is a first-rate sculptor: he is brought forward to enlighten the unartistical world as to the merits of medalengraving by machinery ;-of course he is well acquainted with the subject, and,

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equally of course, his opinion may be relied on with perfect confidence. Well, his opinion is given ore rotundo, and with all gravity;—the engravings by M. Collas' method he pronounces, are "satisfactory" and "faithful." What next? A member of the Committee produces one of these very engravings, requesting the attention of Sir Francis to certain parts of it; then, for the first time, his practised eye recognises " distortion," or, at least, "deviation," in place of " curacy;" our great sculptor expresses his surprise at his own surprising want of observation, thereby virtually acknow ledging that the opinion he had just given was not worth a rush; and the great enlightener of the world in general, is forced to own that he has come so well prepared for his task, that half a minute's observation is quite sufficient to upset all the conclusions drawn from the sum-total of his experience on the subject! How was it possible after all this to cap the climax? Probably in no other way so well as by sending a letter next day to the Chairman of the Committee, informing him that, since giving his evidence he has discovered that "there are several machines in this country which produce copies of medals in true proportions in all their parts." So then, at the time when Sir Francis was thrust upon the Committee to give his evidence, he was actually in so inconceivable a state of ignorance upon that very subject, that he had never even heard of a process so well known to all the world, and especially the world of art, as that of Mr. Bate! Truly, as they say in Persia, "there is darkness under the lamp;" from the whole tenor of Sir Francis Chantrey's unfortunate testimony, it should seem that the last person who ought to be applied to for information or opinion on a point of art is an eminent artist!

Another passage unfavourable to the French party, omitted in the abstract, is a certain reply of Signor Pistrucci. The worthy Signor endeavoured to steer a middle course, by allowing to each process its peculiar merit: giving to the English machine the palm of absolute. correctness, but at the same time averring that the French produced the greater effect, by giving a sort of perspective view; yet, when closely pushed, and asked, whether, if an engraving by hand. of one of his works were to be executed,

he would direct the artist to give a correct, or a perspective view, he was obliged to reply that the former would be his choice, as a matter of course. This reply turned the scale of his evidence, reluctantly enough, in favour of the English method, and should consequently have found a place in the abridgment of the evidence, although its omission is of the less consequence that it only adds weight to the already preponderating side. Had it been the other way, you would, probably, have heard something of the matter ere now, from the truly indefatigable Mr. Vincent Nolte.

With these little exceptions, nothing of the least importance has been left out in the abridged evidence; so that there is still as much room as ever to wonder at the “ lame and impotent non-conclusion of the Committee. The whole proceedings on the petition bear very much the appearance of a trial, "Collas v. Bate;" and how the Jury could avoid finding for the defendant, it is not easy to say. The case for the plaintiff, indeed, went on pretty swimmingly at first (to tell the truth, he thought he had taken the defendant by surprise, and that he would not appear till too late); but, as we have already seen, one of his witnesses broke down in a most distressing manner, while some of the rest managed to contradict each other rather awkwardly; and when the other side took their turn, the game was up at once, and the feeble reply of Counsellor Nolte, for plaintiff, only served to show that he was put quite "out of court," and must either consent to a nonsuit, or expect a verdict against him. That the Jury should content themselves with “summing up the evidence,” and separating without a decision, was a casualty not to be looked for.

It is singular enough that every averment of any consequence in the original petition of Mr. Tilt, as well as in that gentleman's evidence, was contradicted in the course of the inquiry, very often by the witnesses on his own side. The petition informed the house that the French machine could "accurately transfer the relief of a medal to a plane surface, so as to effect the eye in precisely the same manner as the original," and that it performs its duty with "the most minute precision." To support this, Sir Francis Chantrey was put forward, and we have already seen what he did

66

for the cause. Mr. Hawkins, the next witness (who was to have executed the literary portion of the proposed work, and was therefore not disinclined to speak as favourably as might be of Collas' process), employs himself in softening down the admitted "distortions as much as possible. "In high relief," he tells us,

it is not distortion of the line to produce an effect, but actually distortion - yet nothing offensive to the eye-As for Mr. Nolte, his explanations, after Mr. Brockedon's evidence, clearly showing the cause of this awkward effect, are quite sufficient to enable any "intelligent juryman" to make up his mind at once. He first 66 accounts for the discrepancy by the "shrinking of the brass casts "* from which the machine works; and immiediately after, as if forgetting the assertion of the moment before, assures us that the same discrepancy " merely arises from the view taken by the artists of the manner in which the medal is to be engraved." In either case, what becomes of the " curacy," the" minute precision," vaunted of by Mr. Tilt, but absent without leave in all the specimens of Collas' process exhibited to the Committee, and found only in those produced by Mr. Bate's?

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It is the same throughout. There is probably not a single assertion advanced on the French side of the question, which is not contradicted by one or other of their own witnesses, or completely disproved by the opposite party. Mr. Nolte, for instance, accounts for the great distortion in the engraving of a medal of Pierre Jeannin, by the shrinking of the brass cast, and puts up Mr. R. Faraday to support his view of the case. does he support it? Simply by observing, that he “does not think it possible that the distortion in the medal of Pierre Jeannin can be accounted for by the contraction of the metal." Again, Mr. Tilt proclaimed it as one of the merits of the French machine, that it did not re

How

* And be it remembered, if the French proposals had been acceded to, it was proposed to take casts here, send them to Paris to be engraved, and then import the plates from Paris to be printed here! A rather roundabout way, especially when we have a better process, and better artists at home; to say nothing of the additional chance of inaccuracy incurred. Another advantage would be, that the honour of the French company must be implicitly relied on for the completion of the work in the same style as the commencement, as, observes Mr. Tilt, "it is extremely difficult to take any indemnity from foreigners in a foreign country."

quire the superintendence of an artist: Mr. Nolte claims the preference for the same side, on the ground that the engravings could be executed better in Paris than in London, from their being in the latter superintended by artists appointed for the purpose!"

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Mr. Tilt" was not aware of any indi vidual in England who has a machine that would engrave the plates with sufficient accuracy and rapidity.” The Committee, however, had a better opportunity of acquiring information on this point than the worthy publisher-expectant of the grand Government-supported work that was to be; they found, by the admission of Mr. Tilt's own friend, the great representative of Lachevardiere and Co. himself, that, while Collas' machine produces "distortion" (whether necessarily or of choice), the only machines that can, or at least do," engrave plates with (not only sufficient' but perfect) accuracy are to be met with in "this country only! With reference to "rapidity," they also had a tolerable opportunity of forming a judgment, when the engraving of a large medal was put into their hands in the morning, which had been commenced by Bate's process on the previous afternoon! Mr. Tilt dwelt not a little on the cheapness of the French method, but even here the English need not dread comparison. Mr. Nolte informed the Committee that, for a plate of the Soane medals, for which Mr. Freebairn received forty-five guineas, the firm he represented would consider themselves well paid at eight guneas only on the other hand, "the seal of the Athenæum club, for which Mr. Lane charged forty guineas, Mr. Bate said he would engrave for one pound; if a number were to be done, onehalf would be sufficient-one pound per medal, obverse and reverse." Thus the positions of the enemy were turned at all points.

In a word, all the excellencies attributed to the French machine were fully proved not to belong to it, but to be póssessed by its English rival; above all, the merit of entire and scrupulous correctness, so highly essential to such a work as that projected, and without which half its value would be lost, was conceded to be the peculiar property of the latter. Every possible consideration pointed out the preference due to the native machine, and

The railway system does not appear to be progressing very rapidly on the Continent, partly, perhaps, owing to the diffi culty, owing to the great demand for both home and foreign consumption, in obtaining the rails from the great storehouse-England. Unless affairs take an unexpected turn, the South-Eastern Rail. way to Dover will be completed long be fore that from Calais to Paris is ready to receive its share of the traffic between the two greatest capitals of Europe. The latter has as yet only been talked of, but hopes are now expressed that it will shortly be commenced in real earnest, as it is asserted that an iron-founder at Anzin has at length succeeded, after numberless attempts, in casting rails of a weight and strength equal to the English, and thus relieved his country from the necessity (in the matter of railways at least) of" paying tribute to foreigners," a consideration which seems to have weighed much with our ex-hereditary ênemies against the advantages of the system; as to the necessary capital, no doubt is entertained, or, at any rate, expressed, that three times the requisite amount would be forthcoming at the first call. If all this be correct, It is indeed high time to begin the work. With respect to common roads, France is in a most deplorable state; it is admitted on all hands, that the cross-roads throughout the kingdom have been so neglected as to become at last absolutely impassable; and it has actually become a ques tion of national interest by what method they can be made worthy of the name of ❝roads," at an expense within the means of the various communes, or rural dis tricts. In the department of Creuze, it is said, there are abundant mines of excellent coal, which is sold at the pit's mouth at a very low price, but which is of no service even to the immediate neighbourhood, because there is no road in the district passablé by the very simplest

wheeled vehicle! At this rate, railways in France will have nothing to fear froin competition.

From Germany the report is more favourable. The King of Prussia has abrogated the peculiar privileges of the Postoffice in his kingdom, which interfered most materially with the interests of railway projects and two grand lines are forthwith to be commenced, which are to extend to a distance of no less than 100 German leagues! Great dissatisfaction, it appears, has been excited among the Prussian iron-masters in consequence of the contracts for the Berlin and Potsdam Railway having been taken by English houses; although it is at the same time notorious, that there is no native esta blishment sufficiently extensive to undertake the execution of the order within the stipulated time.

In Russia, the Tsarskoeselo and Pawlowsk Railway is going on swimmingly. Ou the 5th February, three locomotives were put in requisition for the conveyance of the Cockneys of St. Petersburgh to a fête at the "Vauxhall" (there are Vauxhalls every where!) at the country end of the line. Each engine drew a train accommodating 340 passengers, and performed the trip ten times, amidst a vast concourse of spectators, attracted by the novelty and the fineness of the weather. The receipts from passengers (at 80 and 40 copecks each) amounted to 1,046 rubles (upwards of 401.), while the Company derived a profit, as proprietors of the "Vauxhall" of 1,100 rubles more. If so much could be effected by the attraction of a fête in the middle of winter, the Company may reasonably expect to do wonders when summer (albeit a Rus sian one) smiles on their undertaking, and allures the Petersburghers to their favourite country resorts.

ANIMATION OF HORSE-HAIRS BY

GALVANISM.

Sir,-In your Number of March 4, is a letter from Colonel Maceroni, entitled, "Production of Life by GalvanismAnimation of Horse-hairs." Colonel Maceroni says, that "Dr. Foster assured him that at the end of three weeks' submission to the galvanic influence, the hair had increased to the size of a thick

straw, and gave him satisfactory proofs of real identical vitality."

*

It would, in short, be giving a creative power to an effect which is contrary to

reaon.

Probably the immersion in water and the action of the galvanic pile caused the tubular horse-hair to swell and form a nidus for those imperceptible larvæ which are common in pond water, in which Colonel Maceroni informs us the hair was immersed. The vitality of these larvæ may have given the living appearance, so satisfactory to Dr. Foster, and thus the mystery is naturally solved, and the idea of an effect having the power of creation, shown to be hastily assumed by Dr. Foster, and inconsiderately promulgated by Colonel Maceroni.

NEW STEAM-BOILER.

Sir, Having discovered a means of generating steam by a system at once exceedingly powerful, safe, of coinparatively light weight and small size, I beg to call the attention of the scientific readers and others of your Journal to its astonishing power; and to state, that I am desirous of relinquishing wholly, or in part, my interest in its use. A 60-horse power-boiler will measure 2 feet 6 inches long by 1 foot diameter, and will weigh under 2 cwt.; a 600-horse power will measure 6 feet long by 4 feet diameter, and will weigh under a ton. Incredible

as these results may appear, they are quite certain, and rest upon well-known principles; and is, therefore, for locomo❤ tive-engines and steam-navigation particularly, highly valuable.

Enfield.

I am, Sir,
Your obedient servant,

G. L. SMARTT.

We have taken the liberty of omitting part of our correspondent's letter, which would have been apt to lead to a metaphysico-theological discussion, Which we are anxions to avoid, as being unsuitable to our pages.-ED. M. M.

NOTES AND NOTICES.

Railways in London. -The extension of the Birmingham Railway, from the originally-intended terminus at Camden-town to Euston-grove, near the New-road, is progressing rapidly, and the scaffolding is now erected for the stupendous portico, which is to be composed of six column, of the enormous height of forty feet, and proportionable thickness! The railway crosses the Hampstead-road and Park-street (leading to the east gate of the Regent's-park), in an excavation of the depth of from twenty to thirty feet, although, at no great distance, it is carried over the Regent's canal at a height sufficient to allow the passage of barges below. The London Grand Junction Railway, which is to leave the Birmingham at its original terminus, and carry on the line to the verge of the City, has also been commenced with con. siderable spirit, nearly at the back of Messrs. Cubits', the contractors, in Gray's-Inn roa 1. It is, at that part, at least, to be carried on arches, after the fashion of the Greenwich Railway, and very little progress can be made in the line either way, from the present site of operations, without pulling down houses and buildings of very modern erection. Its course will, in general, follow that of the celebrated River Fleet, whose channel, which within a short time saw the light of day" in that vicinity, is now covered over there, as well as in most other parts watered by its "tran-lucent streams."

A Removal Westward.-The new National Gal. lery in Trafalgar-square is so far advanced towards completion, as to justify the announcement that the exhibition of the Royal Academy this spring, will take place within its walls. The usual notices to intending exhibitors have been issued, with the intimation that their works are no longer to be sent to Somerset House, where the rooms lately occupied by the Academy have been, it is understood, appropriated to the use of the Council of the newly-chartered University of London,

"Practical Science."-The subjects to which the greatest degree of attention has been paid in the lectures at the London Mechanics' Institution, sinee its establishment, have probably been-Phrenology and the Drama!

While the question as to steam-communication with India by the Red Sea remains so long in abeyance, the East India Company are continually adding to their steam-fleet in the east, by sending out new steamers by the Cape of Good Hope. Two are now actually on their way thither, one of them fitted out as a vessel of war, and destined to act against the pirates who infest the Indian seas.

The Importance of Time-Keeping.-The topography of watch-making, at home and abroad, would present a vast number of curious and interesting facts. In consequence of the minute subdivision of labour in this trade, it is said that there are only three places in the United Kingdom where a complete watch can be manufactured,-London, Liverpool, and Coventry. The business has been introduced at the latter place entirely since the year 1800, and the number of persons employed in it there is now supposed to equal the number in the metropolis! There are innumerable places, besides these, where some part of the manufacture is carried on: the town of Whitchurch, in Hampshire, for instance, is employed entirely on the making of hands!

The Thames Tunnel.-According to the Report of the Directors et the last meeting of the Thames Tunnel proprietors, the "great bore" has been driven one hundred and thirty feet nearer the Middlesex shore since the works recommenced, so that

in a short time it is anticipated the low-water-mark on the Wapping side will be reached, and the completion of the undertaking made a matter of com parative certainty.

Railroads in Belgium.-M. Nothomb, the Minister of Public Works in Belgium, has just laid before the Chamber of Representatives, a return of the railways to be formed in the kingdom at the expense of the Government. They extend along 115 leagues, having their central point at Mechlin. They consist of two principal lines, one from the French frontier to Antwerp by Brussels, and the other from Ostend to the frontier of Prussia near Aix-la-Chapelle, by Ghent, Mechlin, Louvain, Liege, and Veriers. When the King of Prussia has authorised the projected elongation, Antwerp and Ostend will be brought into communication with the Rhine and Cologne.

Progress of River Navigation.-It is scarcely half a century ago since the tilt boats for the conveyance of passengers to and from London to Gravesend were, in shape and speed, just what the Trinityhouse ballast-lighters are at present, and taking four tines or more for the completion of the voyage. They were succeeded by the Dundee boats, which were, as fast sailers, both the wonder and admiration of all who witnessed the improvement. They, however, were of the most inconvenient nature, as the passengers wese fr quently not only called upon to embark in the middle of the night, in order to have the first of the flood; and after tacking and beating about, together with sometimes too much wind, too little ditto, or none at all, besides being huddled in a low and uncomfortable cabin, were frequently, after six or seveu hours on the water, compelled to land at Woolwich, Blackwall, or Greenwich, and then have to find their way in the best manner they could to the metropolis. At length the progress of science introduced steamers for the ferry, which, however, at first, generally took from five to seven hours to arrive in London, a length of time it was evidently a desideratum to lessen. On Sunday last the Diamond started from the Pier at four P.M., proceeded to London, landed her passengers, returned, and at nine minutes before eight o'clock was at her moorings off the Town Pier; thus performing the two voyages (64 miles), including stoppages, in three hours and forty minutes.-Kentish Observer.