Two new coaches have just started, to run between Paddington and the Bank, which are exciting a good deal of public attention. One is a lumbering affair called an Omnibus (for what reason it would be hard to tell), and is said to be an English importation from Paris, though, in fact, it is only a revival of the long stage-coach, which was common in England about twenty or thirty years ago. The entrance is from behind, and the seats are placed on each side instead of across the vehicle, as in other coaches. It is drawn by three horses, and carries twenty passengers; but may, of course, be constructed to accommodate any greater number. The other novelty is also on the long-coach plan, but possesses some features peculiar to itself. It is the subject of a patent, which was some time since taken out by a gentleman of the name of Burgess, the same, we believe, who occupied himself for some weeks in demonstrating, in a Sunday paper, that to propel carriages by steam on the highways is an impossibi lity, while at the very time Mr. Gurney was making daily trips in his steam. carriage over Highgate Hill.* It runs upon four wheels, which are placed in the form of a diamond,-two of them running parallel to each other, and the other two (the front and hind wheels), one behind the other. The spokes and fellies of these wheels, again, are not straight, but curved,. one resting against another, like the wings of a parenthesis joined together. For a demonstration of the superior advantages

* We are sorry to observe from the newspapers, that in a trial which Mr. Gurney recently made with his carriage on the Bath road, he was attacked at Melksham by a mob of country people, and the engine nearly destroyed. The people must have been hired to commit this outrage. They could not possibly be so stupid as not to perceive, that to whatever extent the use of horses can be superseded, the quantity of food for human subsistence must be increased.

of these new modes of structure, the curious reader may consult the introduction to Mr. Burgess's patent, where he has shewn very clearly (to his own satisfaction at least) that "the usual method of building four-wheeled carriages" is pre-eminently absurd, and his the only "sensible" plan. We must confess, for our own parts, that we are rather incredulous with respect to these advantages, and are likely to remain so, until Mr. Burgess shall establish them by something better than mere words. We have not heard that this Paddington concern of Mr. B.'s is either a faster or a cheaper conveyance than its rivals; and though it has not as yet connected its name with any memorable accident on the Paddington road, it is, we presume, the same vehicle which broke down, or was upset (we forget which), on its first trial in Great Queen Street.

LIVERPOOL TUNNEL.

An extension of the rail-road between Manchester and Liverpool has just been accomplished, which will be productive of immense advantages to the trade of both those towns. Instead of terminating, as heretofore, on the eastern side of Edgehill, it has been carried, by means of a tunnel excavated under that eminence, to the westernmost parts of Liverpool; or rather, to speak more correctly, by two tunnels, for there is a small and a large one. The small tunnel is 291 yards long and 12 feet high; the large one 2200 yards long, 22 feet wide, and 16 feet high. The former has a declination of about half an inch in the yard the latter a declination of three-quarters of an inch in the same space; so that carriages descend through them on the railways with very considerable velocity. The greater part of both tunnels has been cut through a compact bed of freestone; but in some places, where the ground was found of a loose description, the archways have been constructed of brick. The engineer to whom the merit belongs of executing this great improvement is Mr. Stephenson, of Newcastle. Z.

AMERICAN HONES.

A quarry of whetstone slate has lately been opened at North Carolina, from which hones are stated to be obtained in abundance, superior to the best Turkey hones. They combine two qualities that are particularly esteemed; namely, they wear away fast, and set a fine edge; that is, their grit is both fine and sharp. Some of them answer well for razors, but they have been hitherto chiefly used in America for sharpening carpenters' tools. The quality is frequently much improved by thoroughly soaking them in oil, and it would probably be still farther improved by boiling in oil,-a process which is said to be practised with the Turkey hores when they happen to be too soft.

GIG DRAWN BY A WOODEN

HORSE.

The Leeds Mercury states, that "a newly-invented gig, drawn by a wooden horse at the rate of a mile in six minutes, and carrying three passengers, has last week been exhibited at Keighley. The mechanism from which this extraordinary vehicle receives its impulse is the invention of Mr. Isaac Brown, of East Morton, near Bingley. The horse, though of such untractable materials, may be guided in any direction by a single rein attached to the mouth."

NEW PUBLICATIONS,

CONNECTED WITH THE ARTS AND SCIENCES.

National Portrait Gallery of Illustrious and Eminent Personages of the Nineteenth Century, with Memoirs. By the Rev. Henry Stebbing, M.A. Nos. 1, 2, and 3. Fisher and Co.

At a time when the press is as much distinguished for the splendour of some of its productions as for the cheapness of others, it is very gratifying to ob serve so eminent a combination of both qualities as this "National Portrait Gallery" exhibits. It is of imperial octavo size: the printing and paper are both of the first order, and each number contains three admirably-engraved portraits, accompanied by biographical sketches from the pen of one of the most vigorous writers of the day; yet the price of each number is only three shillings! We observe that there is even a cheaper edition announced one in demy octavo, at two shillings per number. The time has been when such a work would have been thought cheap at five times the price.

The subjects of the three numbers now before us are the Duke of Wellington, Lord Byron, Marquess Camden, Earl Amherst, the Princess Charlotte, Dr. Wollaston, Lord Grenville, the Marchioness of Stafford, and Earl St. Vincent. Of all the names in this illustrious group there is none so sure to interest the scientific reader as that of Dr. Wollaston; and it so happens that both the portrait and memoir of Dr. W. are the best in the collection. The portrait is by Thomson, from a painting by Jackson, and an extremely characteristic likeness. The memoir is (we believe) the first that has appeared of Dr. W.; and although it professes to be but a popular sketch, gives us a very exact insight into the merits of this eminent philosopher.

"Little at present," says Mr. Stebbing, "appears to be known respecting Dr. Wollaston's early life, except that having finished his preparatory studies, he was sent to Caius College, Cambridge, distinguished both for the eminent philosophichal scholars it had produced, and for the incitements it offers to the students in medicine, in the way of exhibitions and fellowships. So successful was Mr. Wollaston in his academical pursuits, that he was, on taking his degree, the senior wrangler of his year; and probably owed to his steady attention to the particular studies of the university that pre-eminence in science for which he was subsequently so distinguished. After having graduated in arts, and been chosen a fellow of his college, he proceeded to his medical degrees, which having taken, he removed to Bury St. Edmund's, where he commenced practising as a physician; but obtained so little success, that he left the place in disgust, and removed to London.

"For the interests of science it was fortunate that Dr. Wollaston met with no better encouragement in the metropolis than that which he found in Suffolk. Soon after his arrival in London, a vacancy happening in St. George's Hospital, he became one of the candidates for the appointment of physician to that foundation. His principal opponent was Dr. Pemberton, who, either by superior interest, or, as is commonly supposed, by his more pleasing and polished manners, obtained the situation. This second defeat in his professional career considerably lessened the ardour with which he had set out; he expressed his determination never again to write a prescription, were it even for his own father; and carrying this resolution into effect, he turned his attention wholly to natural science, forsaking what might then have been supposed a far more likely road than that in which he amassed his ample fortune.

"But in resigning his prospects as a medical practitioner, this industrious as well as eminent man by no means intended to pursue science in any way but in earnest; and the magnificent discoveries, magnificent in point of real utility,which he made, afford ample proof that it was not till after due deliberation that he thus changed the nature of his studies.. Though almost every branch of science at different times engaged the attention of Dr. Wollaston, chemistry was that to which he seems to have been most ardently devoted; and it is by his investigations in this department of natural philosophy that he will enjoy his greatest share of lasting reputation. One trait in his character probably contributed in no small degree to the success he obtained through life, and that is, the extreme ardour with which, when engaged in his favourite pursuit, he would acknowledge the difficulties under which he laboured, and which

"The manner in which he was accustomed to pursue his inquiries was almost peculiar to himself. It was always on the smallest specimens of the substance which he wished to analyse that his experiments were made; and his laboratory was, it is said, only in proportion to the magnitude of his materials. Anecdotes are told respecting the resolute manner in which he uniformly resisted the intrusion of either friend or stranger into his workshop. Among others it is related, that a gentleman of his acquaintance, having been left by the servant to ramble from one room to another, till he should be ready to see him, penetrated into the laboratory. The doctor, on coming in, discovered the intrusion; but not suffering himself to express all he felt on the occasion, took his friend by the arm, and having led him to the most sacred spot in the room, said, Mr. P. do you see that furnace?' I do.' Then make a most profound bow to it, for this is the first, and will be the last time of your seeing it.'

"Other anecdotes are also told illustrative of his character in another point of view. He was, it is commonly reported, fond of acquiring wealth; and had his desire gratified by finding most of his scientific experiments as fruitful to him in money as they were in reputation. But if the following story be true, and there is every reason to believe so,-it proves how distinct a thing is the caution or prudence which acquires wealth from the iron-hearted parsimony that buries it. Having been applied to by a gentleman, who was involved by unexpected difficulties, to procure him some government situation, his reply was: I have lived to sixty without asking a single favour from men in office; and it is not, after that age, that I shall be induced to do it, even were it to serve a brother; if the enclosed can be of use to you in your present difficulties, pray accept it, for it is much at your service.' The enclosed was a check for ten thousand pounds.

"Dr. Wollaston's fortune was considerable, amounting to fifty thousand pounds, inde pendent of an estate which he possessed in Sussex; and all of which was amassed by his own application and abilities. His most important discovery, the malleability of platinum by a purifying instead of an alloying process, which was formerly employed, produced him, it is said, about thirty thousand pounds. He is also reported to have obtained a proportional profit by several of his other, and even minor, discoveries and inventions, which, by being of a nature likely to make them immediately and generally useful, were certain, in a short time, to produce a considerable return.

"It must, however, after all, be doubted whether this distinguished man, great as he was in science, and possessing many excellent qualities, would not have been very far greater, had his views been somewhat less directed to the acquisition of a fortune. It is, indeed, almost an anomaly, to see a man of true science suffering his thoughts to be engaged about the profit or loss of his experiments. There was a time, it is true, when philosophers sought for nothing so ardently as for the power of turning all things to gold; but it was the power they loved, and not the metal. It was the empirics only of the age who laboured among their crucibles to be rich. Dr. Wollaston was preeminently a man of science-no one could ever suspect him of being a mere experiment-monger; but it must be allowed there was a tendency in his mind to lower the high and purely intellectual value of philosophy. That mind would be the greatest of all minds, which, for the sake of its fellow-men, would seek to make science altogether practical; but for its own sake keep it altogether theoretical. We have had some few examples of this kind, and they have been men

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as great in thought as in learning aud ingenuity; as much moral philosophers as experimental, as studious of divinity as of nature. Unfortunately, we do not possess any information respecting the subject of our memoir, which would encourage us to believe that this elevation of intellect was a part of his character, good as it was. And we may hence account for that apparent absence of any deep religious sentiment, which a mind, properly nourished by the tranquil contemplation of nature, cannot fail of imbibing.

"Dr. Wollaston discovered palladium in 1803, and separated it from platina by dissolving crude platina in nitro-muriatic acid, and dropping into the solution a quantity of prussiate of mercury; the white precipitate, washed, dried, and exposed to a strong heat, is palladium. This metal, which, when polished, resembles platina, is rather harder than wrought-iron; its specific gravity is 12-148.

"He also discovered rhodium in 1804, which is found combined with platina, and is of a white colour; its specific gravity is 10-649. It is brittle, more difficult to fuse than any metal, except iridium, and has the remarkable property of being insoluble in all acids; but it unites readily with all metals except mercury.

"Science is also indebted to him for the invention of the goniometer, for measuring the angles of crystals by reflection, instead of doing so, as was formerly the case, by applying the steel instrument, which opens at different angles of the mineral. This was a most important invention, as it gives the angle of the smallest crystal with very great accuracy.

The camera lucida, for taking views of places, is also his invention.* Looking down on the small glass prism, at the end of a rod fixed to the table, we see the object referred to on the paper underneath, and are thus enabled to trace over the outline.

"Dr. Wollaston was the first person who suggested the molecules of crystals to be spheroidal as well as spherical. The reader will find, in the Philosophical Transactions, a paper on the subject written by the doctor himself."

"Among the delicate instruments which he was accustomed to make, in a remarkably neat manner, was a sliding rule of chemical equivalents, which is exceedingly useful to the practical chemist. He also constructed a galvanic battery, of such small dimensions, that it was contained in a thimble. Some platina wire may likewise still be seen, of so diminutive a diameter, as to be very much finer than any hair, and almost imperceptible to the naked eye. This was produced by inserting a very fine platina wire in a mass of silver, and then at a great heat drawing out the whole together, and afterwards separating them, by dissolving away the silver with nitrous acid.

Few

"Towards the latter part of 1828, Dr. Wollaston became dangerously ill of the disorder of which he died; and which resulted, it seems, from an unhealthy state of the brain. instances have been recorded of celebrated men, in which attention to a favourite pursuit was more strongly evinced to the last moment almost of life. Even on the bed of sickness and death, Dr. Wollaston was living amid his scientific friends, and carrying on with the ardour of health and spirits the great object of his existence. A short time before his decease he gave a fresh proof of his love of science, and of the interest he felt, even in his dying hour, for its advancement. About this period the secretary of the Royal Society received a letter from this distinguished individual, who informed him that he had that day bought out, and invested in the national funds, in the name of the Royal Society, a considerable sum, (it is said a thousand pounds;) the interest arising from which was to

* [An improvement on it only. The original inventor was Dr. Hook. See Mechanics' Magazine," No 311.-ED. M. M.]

416

be used every year, for the purpose of experiments, to assist men of science in their laudable pursuits, and afford them facilities in pursuing their researches, of which he had himself felt the want, in the early part of his career as a naturalist and an experimental philosopher. By turning to the reports of the meetings of the Royal Society at this time, it will also be seen that most of its valuable and interesting papers were the production of his mind. On the anniversary of that learned body, in December last, when the royal medals were given, the president thus addressed the meeting: [For this address, see "Mechanics' Magazine," vol. x. p. 318.]

"The disorder continued to exhibit signs of its fatal progress; and a few days after receiving the medal, his friends had no longer any hopes of his recovery. An anecdote, however, is re lated which shews that he preserved his reason, to the last, and gives an interesting proof of the power of the mind over physical suffering. One of his friends having observed, loud enough for him to hear, that he was not at that time conscious of what was passing around him, he immediately made a sign for a pencil and paper, and which having been given him, he wrote down some figures, and after casting up the sum, returned them. The sum was right. This was but a very short time before his death, which occurred on the 22d of December. medical inquiry was instituted after his decease, respecting its immediate cause; and from the published report, it appears that an effusion of blood had taken place in the ventricles of the brain, which exhibited a very remarkable appearance. The great body of the optic nerve was converted into a tumour, of the size of a hen's egg was of a grayish colour, and firmer than the brain itself. In the inside it was found to be of a brown colour, soft, and in a half-dissolved state. The nerve contained scarcely any of its proper substance.

A

"The funeral of Dr. Wollaston was, ac cording to his particular request, exceedingly private. He had uniformly expressed a great dislike to any exhibition or parade on such occasions, but had a particular wish of his own, which shews how impossible it is for minds usually supposed most independent of such feelings, to shake off what may be perhaps termed the instinct of a future union of soul and body, of the connexion between them, and of the things to which they were related not being entirely broken off. It was his particular request that he might be followed to the grave by the descendants of his grandfather only. What was the immediate reason of this we cannot tell, but it was most religiously attended to. He was buried in the parish church of Chislehurst, Kent."

Although we have nothing but praise to bestow on the judgment with which Mr. Stebbing has in this, as in other instances, executed his task of biographer distinguished as is his manner by good sense, impartiality, and by a very nice intermixture of candour and discretion, we should be wanting in friendliness towards him, were we not to point out the propriety of a closer attention to the progress of his lucubrations through the press. only have been from a certain negli. gence in this respect that we meet, in the pages we have now quoted, with such phrases as Caius College being "distinguished both for the eminent philosophical scholars it had produced, and for the incitements it offers;"

It can

Sir,Allow me to reply to what Mr. Nicholson states, in No. 311, page 380, on the part of Mr. Wilkinson. He says, "All that I have here to complain of is, that he should have been charged with constructing so unwieldy and imperfect a machine" as that represented in No. 297. I, therefore, wish to ask Mr. N., through the medium of the "Mechanics Magazine," whether I was not requested by Mr. W. to see a drawing made by Mr. S. of the model to be laid before the Society of Arts? And what is the reason Mr. N. has withheld the décision of the Society on Mr. W.'s fire-escape? It appears there was only one reward given by the Society during the sessions for 1828 and 1829, for a fireescape; and that was to Mr. Davies, of No. 15, Wigmore Street, London, (the large silver medal.) I hope the drawing prepared for the Society of Arts, of Mr. W.'s model, may be sent for insertion in the "Mechanics' Magazine," (as I have no doubt but it is returned by this time,) so that the readers may judge for themselves, and Mr. Fletcher have a fair trial.

I remain, Sir, yours, &c.

*

M. SAUL. Lancaster, Subyard Street, August 3, 1829,

*[It has been already very kindly offered to us by Mr. Nicholson, and we expect to receive it soon. - ED.]

INTERIM NOTICES.

All Communications for the Editor are particu larly requested to be addressed to the Mechanics' Magazine Office, 115, Fleet Street.

Next week we shall have the pleasure of presenting our readers with a drawing of Mr. Child's model, about which so much has been recently said in our pages.

F. Leyland-yes-one of the same form and size exactly, and two or three others more or less similar.

A note for S. P. W. is left at our office.

W. A.'s suggested improvement in Mr. Steele's design for a monument to Newton shall have an early place; as also some sensible remarks on the same subject by Mr. Davy.

Communications received from Mr. Chapman -Mr. Tonkin-W. B.-Henry D.- Mr. Chaplin Benevolo-Mr. Saul-Y. Secundus Ennis A Member of the Shropshire Mechanics' Institution-Mr. Foord Mr. Utling M. W. Mr. Wansbrough.

Published, for the Proprietor, by M. SALMON, at the "Mechanics' Magazine" Office, No. 115, Fleet Street; where Communications for the Editor (post-paid) are requested to be addressed.

J. MOYES, Took's Court, Chancery Lane.