from place to place by one man-will deliver from four to six tons of water an hour; placed in a tub it can be used for draining fens, or forcing the Thames water into kitchens; and it is recommended to seamen as a good ship pump. There is one feature in the description which renders the rest very doubtful. He says a man may work it five or six hours without intermission, and cannot possibly be wearied! His remarks corroborate the opinion that forcing pumps were then little known in England. [See Ewbank's Hydraulics, pp. 295, 296.]

5. A new kind of Bread made in the form of wafers, and very cheap, with a screw press worked by a pinen and cog-wheel, for stamping, or forming, the wafers.

6. A mode of banking earth against the

47

sea, or repairing breaches in canals, &c., with artificial stones."

7. Water-proof Garments, light and proof against a continual rain, probably an application of a solution of india-rubber, or other gum. Caoutchouc was, however, then but little known, and according to some authors not at all.

8. "Anewe Conceit in Peter Works."—A device by which half the fuel expended in manufacturing salt-petre could be saved. He offered it to the peter men" if they would give him one-third of the amount it saved them, but it seems without effect; perhaps an application of his wooden boiler.

The foregoing articles are the whole that appeared to have sufficient interest to be worth noticing. T. E.*

The following official return has been made to the Lords of the Admiralty, by the

21 24 3 26 2

25,169 4,484

Albion

90 3,099 705

655

432

431

26 23 5 25 3

Rodney.. 92 2,625

30,000 4,152 28,100

4,142

Canopus. 84 2,357

Vanguard. 80 2,589
Superb..... 80 2,589 645

The Portsmouth correspondent of the Times furnishes the subjoined additional particulars, which are followed by some very just remarks on the "want of fairness" shown in the selection of vessels for competition.

"The St. Vincent, 120, Captain Rowley, the flag-ship of Rear-Admiral Hyde Parker, Commander-in-Chief of the squadron, was built on the lines furnished by the late Sir William Rule; the Trafalgar, 120, Captain W. F. Martin, was built by Mr. Oliver Lang, Master Shipwright of Woolwich Dockyard, at that Yard, in 1841; the Queen, 110, Captain Sir B. Walker, was built on the plan furnished by Sir W. Symonds, Surveyor of the Navy, at Portsmouth Dockyard, in 1839; the Rodney, 92, Captain Edward Collier, was built on the plans furnished by the late Sir Robert Seppings (Surveyor of the Navy), at Pembroke Dockyard, in 1833; the Albion,

90, Captain Nicholas Lockyer, was built on the plans of Sir William Symonds, at Devonport Dockyard, in 1842; the Vanguard, 80, Captain G. W. Willes, and the Superb, 80, Captain A. L. Corry, were also built by Sir William Symonds (the former at Pembroke Dockyard in 1836, and the latter at the same yard in 1842;) the Canopus, 84, Captain F. Moresby, is of French construction, and was captured at the battle of the Nile.

"These are the eight ships forming the experimental squadron of 1845, which will sail from Spithead to try their respective qualities as models for future ships of their class. It will no doubt strike the reader, as it does us, as somewhat strange, and at

*We can hardly be wrong in supposing these to be the initials of Mr. Ewbank, the distinguished author of the work on Hydraulic Machinery.-ED. M. M.

variance with those principles of impartiality upon which a squadron of such importance should be sent out for the attainment of so great and nationally important an end, that four of the eight ships composing it are by one constructor, and two of them of the same class.

66

Again, it will be perceived that the Albion, two decker, of 90 guns, is of 3,099. tons burden, but her displacement is 4,152, tons, and she carries 432 tons of water, her weight of provisions being less than that of the St. Vincent, 120, three decker, by 168 days' consumption for 135 men; the St. Vincent also carries 98 tons more water, and her displacement is 4,484; consequently, the St. Vincent has a far greater burden to carry through the water than the Albion, yet has 4,840 feet of canvass less in her sails to enable her to do it! The Surveyor's 80 gun two deckers are each of the same tonnage, yet the Vanguard can stow 109 tons more water than her sister" (the Superb)!

THE "METEOR" AND "FAIRY." Sir,-Having been on board the Meteor during the trial with the Fairy, noticed in your last Number, I beg to be allowed to make an observation or two on the subject. The draught of water of the Fairy is stated at 4 ft. 9 in. This, as I was informed, was the draught when she was tried at Woolwich, with a quantity of ballast sufficient to represent all the freights that it was ultimately intended to have on board; but it does not follow that her draught of water was the same when she was tried with the Meteor. I think it could not have been so much.

In speaking of the respective powers of the Meteor and the Fairy, the speed at which the engines go has not been taken into account. I believe when the trials were made at Woolwich, the engines of the Fairy went 50 to 52 strokes,* whereas the speed of the engines of the Meteor is from 34 to 35 strokes. The power should be in the two cases (as the lengths of stroke are the same) as the square of diameter of cylinder multiplied by the number of turns or strokes per minute; and the engines of the Fairy were, I am informed, sold 10 Government for a greater power than such sized cylinders and length of stroke would give, in consequence of the increased speed at which they were intended to work. This, I think, perfectly right, as the boilers would, in consequence, require to be made larger, and all the bearings more carefully proportioned and hardened, and the engines generally more carefully made. I am, Sir.

Your obedient servant, Limehouse, July 14, 1815.

R. S.

Sir, The poor little Fairy faring so ill in the wars by your last Number, con pels me to ask you to insert the following truths at your earliest convenience.

Probably when trying with the Meteor, the engines might have gone rather slower.

With regard to the Meteor;-the Fairy was started from Blackwall at the convenience of her officers, and not purposely waiting for a race; and her stopping in Bugsby's Hole and Woolwich Reach, was, on both occasions, in consequence of derangement of her "patent" steering apparatus. When she did go on, it was evident to all on board that she was overhauling the Meteor considerably.

As to the passage of the Water Lily round to Portsmouth, wind and tide should be taken into consideration. The Fairy had very bad weather from the North Foreland; in fact, from Beachy Head, it blew a gale of wind dead against her, with a heavy sea.

Yesterday (at the departure of the fleet) she had to stop several times to keep her position astern of the Victoria and Albert and the Princess Alice; and in a short run she had with the Water Lily, she passed her hand over hand-in fact, the latter vessel did not come near again for the rest of the day.

Mr. Lloyd's experiments on 5th April, at the mile in Long Reach, gave the Fairy (the average of seven trials) 15.350 miles. Perhaps some of our fast friends will favour us with the result of their vessels' speed under the same severe test.

When the Fairy left Blackwall, she had a great quantity of stores on board, and 28 tons of coals. I remain, Sir, Your constant reader, JOHN MATTHEW.

The

The" Fairy."-Conspicuous among all the various beautiful specimens of naval architecture (on the departure of the experimental squadron) was the graceful little Fairy, Her Majesty's tender, which played around the Royal yacht, and turned about through the yachts and steamer with all the celerity and ease attributed to her aerial namesake. slender tapering masts, raked symmetrically aft, and almost unsupported by the cobweb cordage of the shrouds and stays-her low and perfect mould melting away into the bows and run-her great speed-and, above everything, the absence of the swell caused by paddle-wheels-all combined to render her so attractive to the eye that she won on the affections of the men of the old school, overcame the prejudices of the Pipes and Trunnions, who "can't see much good in this steam after all," and forced an antiquated Sallyport tar to exclaim," Why, though she arn't fit for a nor'wester, in-shore she frisks about like a lamb after its mother."-Times.

INTENDING PATENTEES may be supplied gratis with Instructions, by application (post-paid) to Messrs. Robertson and Co., 166, Fleet-street, by whom is kept the only COMPLETE REGISTRY OF PATENTS.

on

[Patent dated 5th December, 1844; HAVING, about the time this patent was obtained, thrown out some doubts as to its validity, the ground that the advantages of sugar-boiling by steam had been long known, (See Mechanics' Magazine, No. 1122, p. 84,) we deem it but fair to Mr. Ronald, now that he has specified his invention, to lay his Specification before our readers, and leave it to speak for itself. Mr. Ronald, it will be seen, frankly admits, that "such applications (of steam) have been long known and freely used in Great Britain and Ireland and in the British colonies, and almost all parts of the world;" but claims the particular arrangements described, as being new and beneficial.

Specification.

"Now know ye, &c., &c. Fig. A is a ground view of the said apparatus. No. 1 an oblong chest or vessel with a high flange, made of wood or metal, and lined with copper or other metal, to contain the cane-juice or liquid which is to be boiled by the heat of steam. Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, continuous lengths of strong copper pipes, eight in number, for containing the steam; these pipes have bends of brass soldered on to their ends, which bends are jointed together by external and internal screws, and screwed up so as to permit a gradual descent on each piece of pipe from one end to the other, by which means the water formed by condensation in the pipes flows freely off; two of these pipes are of greater diameter than the others, for the purpose of creating a greater boiling power in a particular part of the chest or vessel. Nos. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25, are forked copper supports for the pipes, each being about th of an inch shorter than the preceding one, for the purpose of supporting the pipes at the gradual descent fixed by the screwing of the joints. No. 26, cock to admit steam from a high-pressure steam-boiler or boilers. Nos. 27 and 28, pipes for admitting the steam at two places into the pipes in the chest. No. 29, valve in the bottom of the chest for discharging the contents, the bottom of the chest being sloped down to the valve so as to discharge the whole contents quickly. No. 30, exit for the water condensed in the piping. No. 31, pipe with a descent for carrying forward the condensed water to the selfacting expansion valve. No. 32, a strong

plank of wood, on which is fixed a portion of the pipe, the said portion of pipe not being shown in this figure. Nos. 33, 34, 35, and 36, iron clasps for holding down the pipe to the plank. No. 37, a wooden pole, which keeps in a fixed place the plug of the valve. No. 38, two screw nuts, which can be moved so as to lengthen or shorten the pole when necessary, in order to regulate the plug of the valve, and then keep it in its fixed place. No. 39, self-acting expansionvalve, which discharges the condensed water in a most effectual manner. No. 40, a revolving fan, or agitator, made of copper or other metal or wood; it is worked by the rolling motion of the boiling liquid, and is so constructed that it can be placed as low or as high in the chest as is necessary; it consists of a spindle with flanges fixed to it, the spindle being a hollow cylinder which gives sufficient buoyance to the fan or agitator so as to float it on the surface, the journals of the spindle being guided in slots. Fig. B is a side view of the self-acting expansion-valve. No. 1, the plank of wood on which is fixed a portion of the pipe. No. 2, a portion of the pipe, which is fixed on to the plank of wood. Nos. 3, 4, 5, and 6, iron clasps for holding down the portion of pipe on the plank of wood. No. 7, the wooden pole. No. 8, the two screw nuts. No. 9, the valve. No. 10, the plug before described. Fig. C is a side section of the chest or vessel, with a flange. No. 1, the chest, with a flange. No. 2, cock to admit the steam from the steam-boiler. No. 3, one of the admission pipes for the steam. No. 4, part of the pipes. Nos. 5 and 6,

two of the copper forked supports of the pipes. No. 7, valve for discharging the contents of the chest. No. 8, the revolving fan or agitator. Fig. D is an end section of the chest. No. 1, the chest with a flange. Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, forked supports for the pipes, showing the gradual descent of the pipes. Nos. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17, show the pipe. No. 18, the revolving fan or agitator.

"I do not claim as my invention the application of steam for boiling cane-juice, or other liquids; nor the application of piping to contain the steam for said purpose; such applications have been long known and freely used in Great Britain and Ireland, and in the British Colonies, and almost all parts of the world. What I claim as my invention of the apparatus, of which the foregoing is a description, and which I believe to be entirely new, useful, and most effectual for boiling sugar-cane juice and other liquids, is