Mr. McCONNELL said, his experience was, that in a long run, the small engines exhausted themselves, and were not able to keep up their steam if they had anything like a load.

Mr. SAMUEL said he had, with the Enfield engine, made the quickest journey that had ever been performed between Norwich and London. With a train capable of containing 84 passengers, they performed the distance of 126 miles in 3 hours 35 minutes, including stoppages. Another advantage in a large carriage of this description resulted from making use of the side space; for there were only 8 wheels to do the work of 24, and at the same time they had no greater amount of weight on each wheel than under the ordinary arrangement. The whole weight was 9 tons without passengers, and 84 passengers might be taken at an average as weighing 6 tons.

Mr. McCONNELL said, that undoubtedly, with the present carriages, the proportion of the tare to the passengers carried was very great; and although a case which rarely happened, instances had occurred where the tare was 50 tons to 3 tons of passengers. But even taking the weight of passengers at 10 tons, 50 tons of carriages was unquestionably a large proportion of dead weight to carry; and he considered that the long carriage, if always likely to be well employed, would be an advantageous mode of saving the dead weight, more especially on branch lines, and at the junctions where such branches came in.

The CHAIRMAN said, they were much indebted to Mr. Samuel for bringing the subject before them; and he only wished that more of their railway friends had attended the meeting, for it was a paper which well merited their deep consideration in the present depressed state of railway interests. The question of economy in the heavy current expenses of railways had for some time occupied his attention; and although he did not go to the full extent with the proposer of this new system, he nevertheless went to a considerable extent with him, and admitted that there were cases of passenger traffic, and branch traffic, and sometimes even short local lines, such as that from London to Greenwich, London to Blackwall, or London to Broxbourne, where the number of short passengers was great, and the number left in long trains was very small, thus causing the train after a certain portion of the journey to work very disadvantageously. He had no doubt that companies would have to classify these trains to a much greater extent than had hitherto been done, and in that case the present plan might be tried with advantage; but he could not go with Mr. Samuel in saying that an engine so

light as he had described was applicable to express travelling.

Even the principle of attaching a carriage to the engine for the purpose of giving adhesion, appeared to him a very doubtful expedient, because small engines were much heavier in proportion to their power than large ones. He considered that Mr. Samuel's arrangement in the case of the Cork and Bandon engine was a good one, but attaching a carriage to an engine was very objectionable; it was like riveting harness to a horse, and could not be desirable under any circumstances whatever. Mr. Samuel did so to increase the weight on his driving wheels, and consequently obtain more adhesion; but he forgot that he had already more weight on the driving wheels than was adequate to drag the carriage along. This was adding more than enough, because an engine that weighs only 5 tons is not so capable of slipping upon the rail as an engine that weighs 30 tons; and therefore attaching a carriage upon the frame of a small engine was superfluous, and the inconvenience arising from having them riveted together would in some cases be exceedingly great, more especially in working a station.

Cases, however, might presently arise which would be favourable to the developement of the proposed system; for instance, railways had been laid down where hardly any justification existed for their construction; these must be worked at the least possible cost, and Mr. Samuel's plan might be adopted advantageously; but let not his very useful system be overstrained, because there was no great branch line, express or otherwise, to which it could by possibility be applicable. It would be largely applicable to minor branch lines, but he (the chairman) felt that if he were to allow this paper to be read without saying anything, considering the position which he occupied in the railway world, it would be taken as a tacit acquiescence on his part in the broad principle of applying small engines where, in fact, for a period of nearly twenty years (ever since 1831), they had been doing everything in an opposite direction to that which Mr. Samuel was now pursuing. Hitherto they had been contriving engines to develope railway traffic on the main trunk lines, where not only great dispatch, but great comfort, is exacted; and he would ask whether the public would be satisfied to be packed up like fish, ninety in a carriage? That they would not be content with inferior accommodation was sufficiently evident from the eagerness with which, on the arrival at a station, persons made their way to the four inside carriages, which he thought were much more conducive to comfort than the broad gauge carriages with eight inside.

Mr. SAMUEL remarked, that in his carriages he thought there would be more and better accommodation than afforded by the present system, as not only were they 9 feet wide, but high enough for the tallest passengers to stand upright if they felt disposed.

The CHAIRMAN did not think that the loftiness of the carriage removed the objection, because it was quite possible for a crowd to be very closely packed.

Mr. SAMUEL replied, that he allowed the same floor area for each passenger as in the present system.

London and Norwich Express Train. The engine which now works this train is called "The Cambridge," and is that referred to in the preceding paper as being in progress of construction, and likely to furnish more economical results than any previously realised.

Distance from Station to

Station.

21

Spooner-row

Attleboro'..

as to raise the piston and create a partial vacuum beneath, which facilitates the withdrawal of blood, fluid, or milk.

Claims.-1. The improved scarifier.

2. The improved apparatus for creating a partial vacuum to facilitate the withdrawal of blood, fluid, or milk.

RECENT AMERICAN PATENTS.

(From the Franklin Journal.) FOR A MACHINE FOR FORMING, BY COMPRESSION, PRISMATE HEADS ON METALLIC BOLTS. William Grant.

Claim.-"What I claim as my invention, is the formation of heads on bolts by machinery, by first upsetting or compressing into a partially closed die a portion of the rod, by means of a punch, into a shape approximating to the form required, but of larger diameter and proportionately shorter, and then by entirely closing the dies, and again forcing up the punch, reducing it to its proper proportions, and completing its form, whether the devices by which the several motions are produced be such as are herein described, or others capable of effecting the same results."

FOR AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE METHOD OF PRESERVING THE SHAPE OF STEEL SPRINGS IN THE PROCESS OF TEMPERING THEM. David M. Smith.

Claim. What I claim, and as particu larly applicable to the manu facture of curved flat springs, for trusses or for various other articles, is; 1st, the process, consisting of hardening the spring in the usual manner, when off the mould; 2nd, in drawing the temper (it being still off the mould), to such extent as to enable me to apply it to the mould without danger of breaking it while so doing; 3rd, in clanaping said spring to a mould, and plunging it and the mould, so clamped together, irato a bath of melted lead, or other suitable metal, or material or materials, in a fluid state, and raised to the temperature necessary to produce the desired effect of preserving the shape of the spring, or that given to it 'oy the mould.

FOR AN IMPROVED PIANOFORTE ACTION. John J. Wise.

Claim.-What, I claim as my invention is; 1st, the applica tion of springs attached to a moveable bar cr rail to the key-levers of the pianoforte, so as to impres different degrees of force; 2nd, I also claim the combination and arranger .ent of the turning rail, lever, and notched plate, for the purpose of graduating the force of the springs on the keylevers, in or der to adjust the keys for various degrees of touch, and to the physical capacity of the performer, and to the character of the mv.sic to be played. I likewise claim as my ir.vention, attaching the "check" to

the "under hammer" (instead of the end of the key-lever, or to an additional lever), by extending the “under hammer" beyond the "main hammer," so as to receive the

check-piece," which I attach to it in any convenient way, by which arrangement the reaction of the main hammer upon the keylever is prevented.

FOR AN IMPROVEMENT IN REFRIGERATORS. Nathaniel Waterman.

The patentee says,-The nature of my improvement consists; 1st, In ventilating the refrigerator through its top or lid. 2nd, In making the top a close hollow box or chamber, to be filled with atmospheric air only, instead of having two lids, viz., an inner and an outer one, as refrigerators are usually constructed. 3rd, In employing uncirculating or confined air, as the nonconducting agent or medium between the inner and outer cases of the refrigerator, instead of charcoal or other stuffing, such as has been commonly used. 4th, In a peculiar valve or contrivance for letting off the waste water and fluid matters which may be discharged from the ice, or any meats or articles placed within the refrigerator.

Claim.-What I claim as my invention is, 1st, The arrangement of the ventilating apparatus or register, in the lid or at the top of the chamber, as set forth.

2nd, The peculiar capillary valve cesspool, as constructed with the circular shallow groove in the seat plate, and its counterpart on the flap, and made to operate in the manner and for the purposes set forth.

NOTES AND NOTICES.

Steam v. Ice.-Captain Sir James Ross, in his Official Report of the proceedings of H.M. ships Enterprise and Investigator, in their late fruitless search after Sir John Franklin, says :-"I had much satisfaction the next morning to find how perfectly our steam launch fulfilled our expectations in an experimental cruise about the harbour (Leopold) before proceeding in her to the westward in search of a harbour for the Enterprise, as it was now beyond probability, from the early setting in of winter and from the unbroken state of the ice, to reach Melville Island this season. The pack at the harbour's mouth, however, still prevented our immediate departure, and all our energies were devoted to landing a good supply of provisions upon Whaler Point. In this service the steam launch proved of infinite value, conveying a large cargo herself, and towing two deeply-laden cutters, at the rate of four or five knots, through the sheet of ice which now covered the harbour, and which no boat unaided by steam could have penetrated beyond her own length."

Extraordinary Dispatch.-A coil of copper wire, 12,200 feet long, was delivered at the Gutta Percha Company's Works, City-road, at 4 p.m. on Monday, the 19th, to be covered with sulphuretted gutta percha for the Prussian Government, with strict injunction that it must be dispatched by the Hamburgh mail on the following day. Notwithstanding this short notice, the extraordinary feat was accomplished, the coil being shipped within 24 hours after its arrival.