The Express.
London, England, 1866-08-24 00:00:00

SECTION G.-MECHANICAL SCIENCE.

In this Section Mr. THOMAS HAWEBLIT is President,
and Sir W. Armstrong, Mr. J. F. Bateman, Mr. W. Fair-
bairn, Captain Calton, Mr. Hawlcshaw, Mr. Voles, and
Mr. Whitworth are vice-precidents; and Mr. P. La Neve
Foster, Mr. J. F. Idetin,Trofessor Pole, and Mr. Turbot-
tom, secretaries.
The Pasammrr, in his opening address, applied his
observations principally to the unhappy necessity which
the events of the last year had establiabed for devoting
much of the science and skill of the members of the asso-
ciation to questions of defence. War was no longer
carried on by animal courage sad brute form, but by the
highest branches of mechanical science and the most re-
fined proem's and operations of the mechanical arts.
The modern soldier most no longer remain a passive
machine, but must be trained as a skilled labourer. After
touching in general terms upon what had been accom-
plished in this direction the President concluded his ad-
dress by pointing out the points of peculiar interest in
connexion with mechanical "dance which were to be found
in that town and its neighbourhood.
Amongst the papers read during the day was a" Report
of the Committee on the Resistance of Water to Floating
and Immersed Bodies," by Professor RANKINg, and that
gentleman read some remarks on the experiments of that
committee. In a discussion which followed, Bir.FAIRBAIIIN
stated the result of some experiments made by him some
years ago on the Forth and Clyde Canal, which showed
that when a boat was propelled at a slow rate there was'
created a great surge on the water, while when it went at
nine miles an hour the surface remained smooth.
Other papers were read—by Mr. Musket, "On the Treat-
ment of Melted Cast-iron, and its Conversion into Iron
and Steel by the Pneumatic Process ;" by Mr. John
Dagliah, "On the Counter-balancing of Winding Engines
for Coal Mines ;" and by Mr. W. E. Garrett, "On an
Hydraulic Goal-tutting Machine."
The attendance of visitors was considerable to-day.
Amongst them were Lord Milton, M.P., the Speaker of
the House of Commons, Lord Falkland, Mr. Barrow, M.P.,
Sir H. Verney, M.P.. the Duke of St. Albans, Lord Am-
barley, M.P., Mr. Wyld, to.

PriKETI3O or MIDDLESEX MAuLTEATILE. -A
general meeting of the magistrates of the county of Mid-
climax was held yesterday at the Sessions-house, Clerken-
well-green, for the transaction of the usual county busi-
ness. Mr. Henry Pownall, chairman of the court, pre-
sided. The following magistrates were present :—The
Assistant Judge, Mr. Serjeant Payne, Mr. Kspp, Captain
Morley, Mr. Antrobus, Mr. B. J. Armstrong, Dr. Jervis,
Mr. B. H. Adams, Captain D. O'Brien. Mr. Wyatt,
Mr. Simpson, Mr. J. F. Pownall, Mr. Baylis, Mr. Giles
Pilcher, Mr. F. H. N. Glossop, Mr. Brice, Mr. Sharp, Mr.
Kemshead, Dr. M'Cann, Mr. Turner, Mr. Warner, Mr.
W. Cox, and Mr. Prance. The report of the Committee of
Accounts and General Purposes was presented. It con-
tained a paragraph on the necessity of an officer being per-
manently appointed for the identification of prisoners in
the county prisons. After some discussion, Mr. Lockyer,
whose memory of faces was said to be moat wonderful, was
appointed as an officer of the court to see prisoners fee
the purpose of identification. A special report was pre-
sented from the Committee of Visitors of the County
Lunatic Asylum at Colney Hatch, respecting the sewage of
that establishment. They recommended that 28 addi-
tional acres of land should be purchased, and that ap-
pliances at the cost of 1,200/. should be provided for the
purpose, if the negotiations with the pariah authorities for
making a sewer should not prove successful. This led to
a long desultory conversation, but ultimately the recom-
mendations of the committee were agreed to. A report
was received from the Cattle Plague Committee, stating
that 160 head of cattle and 14 calves had been slaughtered,
at an expense of 1,7641. ss. They congratulated the court
that the county was free from the cattle disease. Mr.
Wyatt, in moving that 16,5001. be granted for the pur-
chase of the first portion of the Cobham-row estate, said
he regretted to state that last night there were 1,750 pri-
soners in Coldbath-fields Prison, with about 300 prisoners
in other prisons, making • total of 2,050 prisoners of
this county.
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