from nozzle A, and turning its oblique collar R, one half of a revolution, the stream can be discharged at right angles up between partitions, clapboards, and plastering, and also between the ceiling and floors.

The patentee claims, "First,-the revolving oblique collars R, r, r, r, applied to the nozzles of hose or water pipes, arranged and screwed on to the rings B1, B1, and the employment or use of the rings B1, B', fitting in grooves c1, in the end of the nozzles, in combination with the oblique collars or tips constructed and operating in the manner and for the purpose as described. Second, the arrangement of the wires s, and wires f', substantially, as described, to prevent the rings B1, and the oblique collars R, R, R, R, or tips K, J, c1, from turning or unscrewing accidentally. Third, the arrangement of the nuts B, E, thimble c, sleeve D, when used in combination with the nozzle A, F, and sleeve G, to operate as and for the purpose described."

Scientific Notices.

INSTITUTION OF CIVIL

ENGINEERS.

24th November, and 1st and 8th December, 1863.

JOHN HAWKSHAW, Esq., PRESIDENT, IN THE CHAIR.

THE discussion upon Mr. Morshead's paper, "On the duty of Cornish pumping engines," was continued throughout these meetings, but the issuing of the Abstract is deferred.

15th December, 1863.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING.

In the interval that had elapsed since the last Annual General Meeting, it was gratifying to the Council to be able to state, that the progress of the Institution had been eminently satisfactory. The papers read at the meetings had been numerous and varied; the meetings themselves had been very fully attended; the library had received considerable accessions, both by donations and by purchases; the number of members had steadily increased; and the funds were in a prosperous, condition. These were certain tests that the Institution continued to be appreciated by those in whose interest it was established, and led to the conclusion that, so long as its affairs were conducted as they hitherto had been, similar support and countenance would be extended to it.

An enumeration of the papers read and discussed at the ordinary General Meetings showed the variety of subjects which engaged the attention of engineers at the present day, and the extended area embraced within the operations of the members of the profession. Many of the papers read during the last two Sessions had, at the request of the authors, been issued already in a separate form, so that the volumes XXI. and XXII. of the Minutes of Proceedings for the

January 1st, 1864.

,

Sessions 1861-62 and 1862-63, might be said to be completed, and would be issued in the course of a few weeks. An index of the series from Vol. I. to Vol. XX. inclusive, was in hand, and, though a task involving considerable labor, had already advanced fully one half. Numerous applications having been received from the members for complete sets of the Minutes of Proceedings, the Council had determined to reprint some of the earlier numbers which were out of print, in order to be enabled to supply this evident want.

The tabular statement of the transfers, elections, deceases, and resignations, showed that the number of elections had been 74, of deceases 26, of resignations 5, and of erasures 3,-leaving an effective increase of 40, and making the total number of members of all classes on the books, on the 30th November last, 1040. During the last ten years the number of Members had increased to a greater extent than the Associates; for, whereas the number of those classes on the 30th of November, 1853, were 259 and 441 respectively, or in the proportion of 1 to 1·7, on the 30th November last, these numbers were 425 and 588, or as 1 to 1.4.

The deceases during the past year had been:-John Singleton Copley Lord Lyndhurst, and William Tooke, Honorary Members; Thomas Evans Blackwell, William Clegram, Richard Carden Despard, James Fenton, Joshua Field, Joseph Glynn, Mark Jones, William Lewin, and Captain William Scarth Moorsom, Members; Beriah Botfield, M.P., Alexander Bremner, Alexander Brodie Cochrane, William Coulthard, William Cubitt, M.P., William Dunlop, Charles Michael Jopling, Francis Morton, Geddie Pearce, Apsley Pellatt, William Rigby, Charles William Scott, James Sheriffs, Admiral Washington, and William Richard Whitmore, Associates.

It would be observed, with deep regret, that while the Institution had lost many useful and able members, there was included in the list one whose memory must ever be regarded with the liveliest interest; for to Mr. Joshua Field, to whom allusion was made, was due, in no small degree, the existence of the Institution of Civil Engineers. It was about the year 1816, that Mr. Henry Robinson Palmer, who was then articled to Mr. Bryan Donkin, first suggested to Mr. Field the idea of forming a society of young engineers, for their mutual improvement in mechanical and engineering science; and it was, no doubt, owing to Mr. Field's influence that Mr. William Nicholson Maudslay became the third who associated in this cause. These were shortly joined by five others-Mr. James Jones, Mr. Charles Collinge, Mr. James Ashwell, Mr. Thomas Maudslay, and Mr. John T. Lethbridge; and when the Institution was constituted on the 2nd of January, 1818, it comprised just these eight members, and so remained until the following year, when the number was increased by three. From that time to the present the numbers had steadily increased, the first great impetus being the acceptance of the office of President, in 1820, by Telford, under whose fostering hand the Institution grew rapidly in importance, and eventually acquired a permanent position among the scientific societies of the metropolis.

The abstract of receipts and expenditure, as prepared by the auditors, showed that the income from all sources during the twelve months, from the 1st of December, 1862, to the 30th November, 1863, was

£3974. 178. 1d., while the payments in the same period only amounted to £2740. 88. 11d., leaving a balance of £1234. 88. 2d. Of this, a sum of £1000 had been invested in the purchase of London and North Western Railway Four per Cent. Debenture Stock, making a total of investments during the last five years, out of the general funds, of £3500. The realised property of the Institution now comprised :1. General Funds, £9357. Os. 8d.; 2. Building Fund, £1322. 2s. 11d. ; and, 3. Trust Fund, £9970. 12s. 7d., making a total of £20,649. 16s. 2d., as against £19,041. 12s. 1d., at the same period last year.

The Institution was now about to enter upon the forty-seventh year of its existence. It remained for the present members to emulate the example of those who had preceded them, and to sustain the high character for usefulness which the Institution had always enjoyed.

After the reading of the report, Telford Medals and Telford Premiums of Books were presented to Messrs. J. Brunton, J. R. Mosse, Z. Colburn, and H. Hayter; Telford Premiums of Books to Messrs. W. M. Peniston, W. H. Preece, A. W. Makinson, D. Miller, R. Crawford, W. Cudworth, and J. G. Fraser; and a Watt medal and the Manby Premium, in books, to Mr. J. Fernie.

MECHANICAL ENGINEERS' SOCIETY.

May 7th, 1863.

SAMPSON LLOYD, Esq., IN THE CHAIR.

The paper read was, On the locomotive engines in the International Exhibition of 1862, by Mr. D. K. CLARK, of London.

THE collection of locomotive engines shown in the International Exhibition of 1862, may be adopted as a fair average exponent of the best and most recent practice, both English and foreign, particularly the former. The English engines were mainly examples of the standard classes in general use on the principal English railways. The foreign locomotives showed greater variety, boldness, and originality of design, and were mainly constructed for lines with very heavy gradients and sharp curves, which are generally associated together in mountainous districts, causing special mechanical difficulties not applying to the general circumstances of English railways.

Twenty engines altogether were exhibited, of which eleven were contributed from the United Kingdom, three from France, one from Belgium, two from Austria, one from Prussia, one from Saxony, and one from Italy. Of the above twenty engines, fourteen had outside cylinders, and six had inside cylinders; and of the eleven English engines seven had outside cylinders, and four had inside cylinders. Most of the engines were specially constructed for burning coal-a feature which has been introduced entirely since the former Exhibition of 1851, on account of the smaller cost of coal for fuel compared with

coke. The principal particulars of the locomotive engines exhibited, both English and foreign, were given in a Table appended.

English locomotives.-Amongst the English locomotives may be noticed, first, as specimens of the largest class of express engines, two exhibited and manufactured by the London and North Western. Railway, one with inside and the other with outside cylinders, but both with 7-ft. 6-inch driving wheels, and designed with special regard to the running of the express trains on that line.

Of the inside cylinder class, only three engines were made, as it was found to be heavy on the road and in consumption of fuel. It is an engine of maximum dimensions, and indeed must be considered beyond the capacity of the narrow gauge for proper working. With cylinders of 18 inches diameter and a stroke of 24 inches, 7-ft. 6-inch driving wheels, and 26 square feet of grate, it weighs 34 tons, in working order, of which there are 144 tons on the single pair of driving wheels. With the tender, weighing 25 tons with fuel and water, the total weight to be moved amounts to about 60 tons, exclusive of the train. The boiler has been designed for burning coal, with a combustion chamber and a double compartment of the fire-box for alternate firing, to which have been added fire-brick arches inside, and deflecting plates in the doorways. The grate is 7 feet long, in two parallel strips, and the enormous amount of 242 square feet of heating surface has thus been attained in the fire-box and the combustion chamber; making the "direct" heating surface greater than has before been attained on the narrow gauge. But the advantage of direct surface, or that which is exposed to the radiant heat of the fire, depends upon its being within a reasonable distance of the grate; whereas in this fire-box the crown is 6 feet 3 inches above the grate, and the upper portions of the surface are therefore nearly ineffective for evaporation. This great extension of fire-box and combustion chamber has led to the curtailment of the tubes to 9 feet 4 inches length; and it has been attempted to compensate for this by packing 214 tubes together at 50 inch distance apart, making 980 square feet of heating surface in the tubes. The opinion has been extensively held that heating surface is mechanically the equivalent of evaporating power, but this, in the writer's opinion, has not been confirmed by practice; for besides surface, circulation is wanted; the circulation of the water to the tubes, and of the steam from amongst them: and in this particular engine the evaporative power of a smaller number of tubes, placed at 75 inch apart, would have been greater than that of the tubes as they are. The driving and leading springs are connected by a compensating beam, which seems likely to give an unsafe freedom of action to the engine at high speeds.

The outside cylinder engine, exhibited by the London and North Western Railway, is one of a numerous class running the express trains on that line, and contrasts in several respects with the inside cylinder engine. It weighs only 27 tons in working order, and the tender 17 tous, making a total of 44 tons, as against 60 tons for the other engine; and the weight on the driving wheels is only 11 tons instead of 14 tons.

The fire-box is of the ordinary form, with little more than half the grate surface of the other engine; and it is fitted for coal burning.

with a fire-brick arch, and two air openings in front, closed by a regulating flap. The heating surface of the fire-box is 85 square feet, being little more than one-third that of the inside cylinder engine ; and there are fewer tubes, but then they are 62 inch apart. The other engine gains the advantage in the greater size of blast orifice, which is 54 inches diameter for the inside cylinder engine, and 4 inches for the outside cylinder engine; owing to the larger area of grate in the former engine, which does not require the same sharpness of blast to draw the air through.

Regarding the engines as carriages, the height of the centre of the boiler in the inside cylinder engine, 7 feet 5 inches above the level of the rails, is considerable, and tells upon the rails when the engine sways. In the outside cylinder engine, though the driving wheels are as large, the centre of the boiler is 11 inches lower; and this, in connection with a compact wheel base and a balanced driving wheel, produces a safe, steady, and easy-running engine. In both the engines feed pumps are displaced by two Giffard's injectors.

The outside cylinder engine is fitted with a duplex direct-action safety valve, in which a pair of valves are pressed down by a crossbar, with a spiral spring attached to the middle of the bar, between the two valves, as described at a former meeting (see Proceedings Inst. M.E., 1856, page 37); a decidedly superior arrangement to the ordinary weighted lever, since this valve cannot be tampered with, and is much more prompt in discharging an excess of steam, as it opens wider for a given excess of pressure. The smoke-box is furnished with a descending hopper at the bottom, having a small opening not closed, through which ashes and ignited cinders are allowed to escape constantly: thus overheating of the smoke-box is prevented. The reversing gear is worked by a screw and hand-wheel, instead of the usual long lever and notched sector; this reversing gear, which is applied to nearly 200 engines, is more easily worked-saving the engineman a great deal of fatigue.

The tender of this engine, exhibited with it, has six wheels, and weighs, empty, 9 tons, full, 17 tons; the load being equally distributed on the wheels. It is fitted with the apparatus for picking up water whilst running: a scoop being let down from the bottom of the tender, and dipping into the water contained in a long open trough between the rails, from which it is made to flow up the scoop into the tender tank by the motion of the tender in running.

The next engine to be noticed is a passenger express engine, for the South Eastern Railway of Portugal, 5 feet 5 inches gauge, exhibited and manufactured by Messrs. Beyer, Peacock & Co., whose design is characterised by elegance, thoroughness, and finish in form, arrangement, and detail. This engine is a type of the prevalent style of English inside cylinder express engines. The framing is composed of two pairs of longitudinal bars or slabs running straight from end to end, cross-braced by the cylinders, the foot-plate, and various cross plates. The extension alongside the fire-box of the two inside longitudinal slabs, which stopped short in front of it in the earlier examples of this description of frame, is a great improvement in practice, as it connects the steam cylinders, driving axle, and draw-plate directly and immovably together, and bears the entire strain of the steam in the