it in this dock-yard,* and one by Colonel Pasley, Royal Engineers, at Chatham, for Captain Franklin's overland expedition; and I was strongly impressed with the idea, that a canvas of this description, but much stronger, and finished in a different way, might materially assist me in making the boat portable.

The form of the boat became the next consideration. It was desirable that it should be such as would be best calculated to encounter a surf, and not longer or broader than to contain four horses (which number appeared sufficient to land at a time), and to be of such a depth as to preclude the possibility of the horses springing out. I am sanguine in the belief that I have been successful in the form, as it respects encountering a surf, as I am told she resembles the Massulla boats of Madras.

In order to make the boat portable, and to do it in as simple a manner as possible, the different parts of her frame are connected by iron screws and brass nuts; the screws are so made that they may be turned in by hand, consequently no tools are required, and she may be put together by any men of common understanding. To facilitate which, the four quarters of the frame of the boat are painted of different colours, and marked; therefore it is almost impossible to err; the screws also are all cut with the same die, and the only precaution necessary is with regard to their length. The boat is constructed with a flat floor, and there is a strong platform for the horses to stand on, which is carried sufficiently high to prevent the possibility of an accident; there are three thwarts at the proper height, for the security of the boat, and parting bars are placed on the gunwales, to keep the horses separate and steady. When the frame of the boat is put together, a waterproof canvas covering is put over it, and laced to the gunwales, when she becomes a perfect boat.

As it is intended to draw the boat up and down a beach, it becomes necessary to protect that part of the canvas which may come in contact with stones or uneven ground; therefore she is placed on a sledge, which will keep her nearly a foot from the ground, and also perfectly upright and steady when hauled up.

The boat is twenty-four feet long, eight feet six inches broad, and four feet deep, and when taken to pieces, it may be packed (with the exception of the keel and gunwales) in two cases, each ten feet long, two feet six inches broad, and two feet deep; and is not only competent to carry four horses, but also their harness, and whatever stores may be necessary.

When it is required to land horses, the

Captain Franklin did not take this boat.

boat is to be put together on the ship's deck, and hoisted out, the horses must be lowered into her, and secured in the usual way; the boat is then transported as near to the beach as the surf or local circumstances will admit of, a rope previously fastened to the sledge is got on shore, and a sufficient number of men will haul her through the surf and half her length up the beach: the canvas at the forepart of the boat is then unlaced and rolled under the bows, the screws at the scarphs of the gunwales, at the risings, footwaling, and keel (ten in number), are taken out, when the fore-part of the boat may be removed, and the horses can walk out.

As I have not seen the boat hauled up with horses on board, I am unable to state the number of men necessary to perform it, but I consider it will require between forty and fifty men. When the first four horses are landed, they may be made to assist the landing of the remainder.

When it is required to embark horses, the boat is put together on the beach, the horses led into her, the bow closed up, and with the assistance of an anchor or boat, moored without the surf, she is heaved afloat.

On the 26th of November, 1827, I had the honour to submit and to explain my model to the Honourable Navy Board, who declared themselves perfectly satisfied with it, and ordered a boat to be built on the above principle in this dock-yard, which was done, and examined by his Royal Highness the Lord High Admiral, as well as by many distinguished officers of the navy and army, and it was subsequently sent to Portsmouth for trial on South-Sea beach, but I have not heard that an opportunity has yet offered for doing so.

From various experiments which I have made on the strength and water-proof quali ties of the canvas used for the covering of this boat,* I feel justified in stating that it may, and that it will be used for many important and highly useful purposes, particularly as connected with the naval and military services. It occurred at the battle of Nava rino, and also in many actions during the last war, that, at the conclusion of the engagement, the boats when required to board the prizes were found to be so perforated with shot, that they would not swim, and a considerable time elapsed before they could be made effective; and I have heard that many prizes have been lost in consequence of this state of the boats. This was distinctly the case in the defeat of the combined French

*This manufacture being composed of two pieces of cloth, united by a solution of Indianrubber, is of immense strength. The canvas used for this boat was prepared by Mr. Thomas Han cock. who manufactures this article (for Messrs. Macintosh and Co.) in London, and was quite a specimen of the perfection to which this mode of water-proofing has been brought.

and Italian squadrons near Lissa, in March, 1811, by the squadron under the command of the late Sir William Hoste. Sir William states,*" I must now account for the Flora's getting away after having struck her colours. At the time I was engaged with that ship, the Bellona was raking us, and when she struck I had no boat that could possibly take possession of her." Also at the capture of the Rivoli by the Victorious, in the Adriatic, in April, 1812, the latter ship's boats were so much injured, that they would not swim, and the prize was boarded by Lieutenant (now Captain) Peake, and one man, in a dingy.

Now if every ship of war was supplied with a covering of this description, previously fitted to one or more of her boats, which covering might be kept below until wanted, however much the boat may be hit with shot, or staved, (provided her form was not entirely destroyed) by placing this covering over her, she becomes in less than two minutes an effective boat, and fit for any service.

In obedience to directions from his Royal Highness the Lord High Admiral, a small boat was built in this dock-yard, on the principle of the horse-boat: she was twenty feet long, five feet ten inches broad, and two feet two inches deep, weighed five hundred weight two quarters, and was packed in two cases, one fifteen feet long, fourteen inches broad, and nine inches deep; the other six feet one inch long, one foot ten inches broad, and one foot four inches deep. This boat was taken in the yacht on his Royal Highness's visit to Portsmouth and Plymouth in July last, and was put together at each of those ports, when thirty men were embarked, and she was rowed round Plymouth harbour with that number of men. Not the least weakness was apparent, and not a drop of water came into her. She was subsequently sent to Portsmouth for his Majesty's ship Madagascar, at the request of Captain the Honourable Sir Robert Spencer. Also, two boats, similar to the one supplied to the yacht, have been built for the settlement at the Swan River, Western Australia.

For military purposes I feel confident that portable flying bridges, on the principle of those at Antwerp, and at several towns on the Rhine, might be constructed in this manner with great advantage, and when made light, and suitable to pack in a small space, might be eminently useful to an army.

Perhaps I ought to apologise for presuming to speak on military subjects; and I must again observe, that I pretend to no other knowledge than what I have collected in conversation with experienced officers, and from reading. In Sir Walter Scott's History of Bonaparte, there are many passages which

• Vide London Gazette, May 18, 1811.

strengthen my statement, viz. that circumstances have arisen where boats constructed in the manner above described would be exceedingly useful. In vol. iii., p. 119, Sir Walter states, that " Bonaparte himself observed that the passage of a great river is one of the most critical operations in modern war." Page 122.-" They had to pass (the Po at Placenza) in common ferry-boats, and the crossing of the advanced guard (five hundred men) required nearly half an hour; so that the difficulty, or rather impossibility of achieving the operation, had they been seriously opposed, appears to demonstration."

"The vanguard having thus opened the passage, the other divisions of the army (between fifty and sixty thousand men) were enabled to cross in succession; and in the course of two days, the whole were in the Milanese territory, and on the left bank of the Po."

But perhaps the most striking case is mentioned in vol. vii., p. 212, when treating on the advance of the French army towards Moscow: The river Willia being swollen with rain, and the bridges destroyed, the Emperor, impatient of the obstacle, commanded a body of Polish cavalry to cross by swimming. They did not hesitate to dash into the river, but ere they reached the middle of the stream, the irresistible torrent broke their ranks, and they were swept down and lost almost to a man.'

QUICK AND CHEAP MODE OF RAILWAY TRANSIT WITHOUT LOCOMOTIVE-ENGINES.

Mr. Editor,-A great deal has been said on both sides for and against the undulating railway principle, but hitherto no satisfactory practical results have been obtained on which to found a definitive judgment respecting it; and although the shareholders of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway are deriving considerable profits, owing to the immense traffic between the two towns, still there are doubts if many other roads will pay at all, the expense of locomotive-engines being so great wherever there are considerable inclines to be overcome, and the first expense of constructing the railway so enormous, from the endeavours made by tunnelling and embanking to reduce that expense. I am, therefore, induced to send you a new plan of an undulating railway, by which locomotive-engines (except on very rare occasions, indeed,) will be dispensed with; the trains will travel by the force of their own gravity from station to station, as described in the following diagram:

proposed the use of an angular rail; my plan was not then matured, but as I have since given some little attention to the subject, I send you the results.

The purpose of giving an angular shape to the rail is, that the engine wheel (also having an angular grooved rim to correspond) may have a greater hold upon the rail, thereby giving greater efficiency to the power of the machine, preventing an irregular action, which must be produced when the wheel slips on the rail (a cir cumstance much alluded to at the opening of the Selby Railway), and thereby much strain to the machinery. The top surface, one inch broad, is intended for the train-wheels, and where friction would be a defect, it is thereby avoided. The form of the rail is intended to admit of being reversed at any future time when the upper surface is worn. The chair is not intended to be fixed, but the central part, which projects downwards, is to let into the stone sleeper, and be bedded in with cement or not, as found best. The rail is not fixed to all the chairs, but only to the centre one; which proposition I made with another plan of Rail and Chair sent to the London and Birmingham Railway Directors. The size of the present rail is as follows:-Depth, 44 inches; extreme width, 24 inches; surface, 1 inch; angles, from 15 to 25°, as the friction is required; the calculated weight is rather more than 51 lbs., but upon shrinking, it would probably not be more than 50 lbs. to the lineal yard.

It has been objected to turning the rail when one side is partially worn down, that in proportion as it is so worn, its strength must be diminished. But as

long as the internal structure of the rail is not so permanently injured as to prevent its return after deflection to its original horizontal form, it seems to me that it must be nearly, if not to the full, as efficient as ever.

As respects the supporting of the rails, I also proposed that instead of having the rail resting solely upon the chair, the chair should be so planned, that the rail should also rest upon the surface of the stone, whereby it would be strengthened, and the stone, by receiving a steady vertical pressure, would be rendered less liable to the casualties so frequently complained of.

I also proposed that the stone-block or sleeper should be placed in an angular direction with the length of rail or line of road, whereby a greater surface of stone would be placed in the directions most required, viz. lengthways and sideways. By this plan an 18-inch stone exposes a surface of 2 feet and more to the pressure.

Fig. 1 is a section of the rail as it rests in the chair, which, when the lower portion of the chair is let into the stone, will rest upon the stone also; the two small sections are for the purpose of fixing the centre of each rail to its chair. Fig. 2 is a vertical view, showing the angular position of the stone upon a smaller scale. I am, Sir, Yours respectfully, P. WOODHOUSE.

Kilburn, May 27th, 1835.

MISCALCULATION OF THE RUSSIAN
CALCULATING BOY.

Sir,-Well knowing that your Magazine is always open for the correction of errors, I trouble you with a notice of one which appears in your last volume (p. 191), in an article headed "Russian Calculating Boy," copied from the Times newspaper, and by that paper from the Memoirs of the Imperial University of Moscow. In this article it is stated that the boy was asked the following question: A certain number of poods of sugar were purchased for 500 rubles; if three poods more had been bought for the same sum, it would happen that each pood would have cost three rubles less. How many were purchased ?" And he is said to have answered, that "20 was the number." Now, this number does not,

The first notice which we gave of this work (vol. xxii. p. 424) was taken up with an examination of what the author himself regards (injudiciously, we think) as one of its best features, namely, the evidence which it contains, 66 never before published, and as decisive as it is novel," that the real authorship" of the cylinder-spinning machine has been hitherto erroneously ascribed to Sir Richard Arkwright. We showed-unanswerably, we believe that the inferences drawn by Mr. Baines from this new evidence in favour of John Wyatt, are wholly unwarranted that if any person has a better claim than Arkwright to the honour of being the first inventor of the machine in question, it is Lewis Paul, and not John Wyatt-but that there is abundant reason to believe that Arkwright, though anticipated by Paul in the general idea of the thing, did, without any knowledge of what had been previously done, invent for himself the machine with which, and with the vast revolution it produced in the cotton manufacture, his name has been so long familiarly identified.

We now return to the book for the purpose of pointing out to the attention of our readers the many better things which it contains, and which, in spite of the injustice done by the author to the great hero of his subject, make it eminently worthy of universal perusal., Be fore passing, however, from the question of Arkwright's merits, it may not be amiss to select from the work grains of compen

sation as it affords for the great wrong done by it to his memory in the matter of originality of invention.

The prodigious impulse given to the cotton manufacture by the improvements which Arkwright introduced, and the prominent part which he played in the direction of that impulse, are well depicted in the following passages-which present, at the same time, some new and curious traits in the character of this remarkable man:"When this admirable series of machines was made known, and by their means yarns were produced far superior in quality to any before spun in England, as well as lower in price, a mighty impulse was communicated to the cotton manufacture. Weavers could now obtain an unlimited quantity of yarn, at a reasonable price; manufacturers could use warps of cotton, which were much cheaper than the linen warps formerly used. Cotton fabrics could be sold lower than had been ever before known. The demand for them consequently increased, the shuttle flew with fresh energy, and the weavers earned immoderately high wages. Spinning mills were erected to supply the requisite quantity of yarn. The fame of Arkwright resounded throughout the land; and capitalists flocked to him to buy his patent machines or permission to use them. He sold to numbers of adventurers residing in the different counties of Derby, Leicester, Nottingham, Worcester, Stafford, York, Hertford, and Lancashire, many of his patent machines. Upon a moderate computation, the money expended in consequence of such grants (before 1782) amounted to at least 60,000l. Mr. Arkwright and his partners also expended in large buildings in Derbyshire and elsewhere, upwards of 30,000l.; and Mr. Arkwright also erected a very large and extensive building in Manchester, at the expense of upwards of 11,000l.' Thus a business was formed which already (he calculated)' employed upwards of 5,000 persons, and a capital on the whole of not less than 200,0001."

"At the trial concerning the validity of the patent in 1785, only three years later, Mr. Beareroft, the counsel, opposed to Mr. Arkwright, stated that 30,000 people were employed in the establishments set up in defiance of the patent,* and that near 300,0001.

This is not strictly correct. The trial here alJuded to took place on the writ of scire facias to repeat the patent; but four years previously the patent had been found to be of no validity (on account of a defect in the specification) in the case of Arkwright v. Mordaunt, on which there were eight other suits for infringement dependent, which, in consequence of the verdict in favour of Mordaunt, were withdrawn. The establishments between 1782 and 1785 may with more propriety, therefore,

had been expended in the buildings and machinery of these establishments. If we add to this the mills where the patent machines were used, the capital and the population employed, will much exceed these amounts. The factory system in England takes its rise from this period."-P. 183-4.

"Arkwright was now rapidly making a large fortune, not merely by the sale of his patent machines and of licenses to use them, but much more by the profits of his several manufactories; for having no less enterprise than judgment and skill, and being supported by large capital and very able partners, he greatly extended his concerns, and managed them all with so much ability as to make them eminently prosperous. He offered the use of his patents by public advertisements; and gave many permission to use them on receiving a certain sum for each spindle. In several cases he took shares in the mills erected; and from these various sources he received a large annual tribute."— P. 187.

"Wealth flowed in upon him with a full stream from his skilfully-managed concerns. For several years he fixed the price of cottontwist, all other spinners conforming to his prices." P. 193.

"The most marked traits in the character of Arkwright, were his wonderful ardour, energy, and perseverance. He commonly laboured in his multifarious concerns from five o'clock in the morning till nine at night; and when considerably more than fifty years of age-feeling that the defects of his education placed him under great difficulty and inconvenience in conducting his correspondence, and in the general management of his business he encroached upon his sleep, in order to gain an hour each day to learn English grammar, and another hour to improve his writing and orthography! He was impatient of whatever interfered with his favourite pursuits; and the fact is too strikingly characteristic not to be mentioned, that he separated from his wife not many years after their marriage, because she, convinced that he would starve his family by scheming, when he should have been shaving, broke some of his experimental models of machinery. Arkwright was a severe economist of time; and that he might not waste a moment, he generally travelled with four horses, and at a very rapid speed. His concerns in Derbyshire, Lancashire, and Scotland,* were

be said to have been set up in consequence of the ascertained invalidity of the patent than "in defiance" of it.-Rev.

On the subject of his Scottish speculations we have elsewhere the following note:-"The Lancashire spinners were Arkwright's great enemies. Owing partly, perhaps, to his humble origin and partly to the doubts whether he was the author of the inventions,' he had no honour in his own coun