The Sun.
London, England, 1853-05-26 00:00:00

SOCIETY OF ARTS.

At the usual meeting, held last evening at the rooms
in the Adelphi, a paper was read by Mr. Loseby, " On
recent improvements in Chronometers." Mr. Wink-
worth presided. Previous to the paper being read, it
was announced that her Majesty's Commissioners for the
Great Exhibition had presented copies of the jurors' re-
ports, the commissioners' report, catalogue, &c., to the
Council of the Society, in all amounting to nine splen-
didly-bound volumes, which lay on the table for the in-
soection of the members. Mr. Loseby, in the course of
his long and interesting paper which followed, entered
into a general description of the various parts of the
chronometer—the train, the escapement, and balance—
and observed that they were seldom made to go more
than eight days ; but that the two days' chronometers
were better in principle, as any irregularity would cor-
rect itself in that time. There was little difference pro-
duced by the form of the teeth, while durability
depended on the hardness of the brass or steel of which
they were composed. He pointed out the difference
between the escapement of the chronometer and the
common watch, remarking that the repairs of the former
ought to be entrusted to no one but to chronometer.
makers, as he had known common watchmakers destroy
in a few moments the labour of months, from attending
only to mechanical execution, and not to theory and
principle. The latter were ignorant of the adjustments,
which might be called the mental part of chronometer-
making, and which were attended with so much nicety
of calculation and execution that the making of a first-
rate chronometer occupied twelve menths. He went on
to describe the methods adopted for adjusting compen-
sations for temperature, the only part of their manufac-
ture in which great improvements had been made ; in
other respects they were the same as they were fifty
years ago. He illustrated this portion of his lecture by
referring to various diagrams, and many of the details
were of a purely technical character, and only intelligi-
ble to the professional part of his audience.
the r o oem saideter
that the balance was adjusted by trying
in different temperatures, until the exact point was as-
certained at which one error neutralised another,
the final adjustment was not obtained in less thant'wealnvde
months. After alluding to the conditions needful for a
good chronometer, and the methods used to remedy the
defects of the old construction, explained the peculi-
arities of the inventions of Arnold,
others, with the several degrees
of success Ive, Dent, and
they had

obtained, and then alluded to the contrivance introduced
by himself, viz., the employment of mercury :to effect .
secondary compensation, the mercury being contained in
tubes attached by fittings to the balance. He described
the effect of substituting a fluid for a solid agent in the
action of the chronometer, and the immediate results,
stating that the secondary compensation could be as
justed to five-tenths of a second a day; while, as regards
the permanent effect, the glass tubes were hermetically
sealed, and no change could take place more than in the
ordinary chronometers. This, however, was not the first
time that mercury had been tried, as a similar experi-
riment had taken place in France, though its application
to affect the primary compensation had failed. Mr.
Loseby then referred to the results of the trials
made of the chronometers of the different makers at
the Royal Observatory, and read a long; letter from
the late Mr. Dent to the Secretary of the Admiralty im-
pugning the character of the improvements introduced
by himself. Several members objected to the reading
of the letter, on the ground that it related to matters of
a personal rather than a scientific interest ; and the
Chairman observed that the society wan not the arena
for personal discussion. The lecturer was at length per-
mitted to read his reply to Mr. Dent's letter, in which
he strongly maintained the superiority of his chrono-
meters, as shown by the recorded results of the various
trials, continued for twenty-four weeks in each year, for
four years. At the close of the lecture, Mr. Denison,
one of the jurors who had reported on the question at
the Great Exhibition, defended the statements of Mr.
Dent, and the mode in which the experiments were con-
ducted, as the best calculated to obtain the most correct
results, and contended that Mr. Loseby, with respect to
the point of secondary compensation, for which he
claimed credit, had been beaten in every year. The
Chairman, with a view to afford the lecturer the oppor-
tunity of reply, suggested the adjournment of the dis-
cussion to Monday evening, when Mr. Wenham will
read a paper on a subject closely connected with the
lecture of the evening, viz., "On Glass Balance Springs."
libanks were then voted to Mr. Loseby for his valuable
and ingenious paper.
It was then stated by the Secretary that, at the meet-
ing on Wednesday evening next, an announcement of an
important character would be made relative to the in-
tended Exhibition in Paris in 1855, and also with re-
spect to the operation of the French tariff, and its re-
striction on the introduction of 'British manufactures.
It was also stated that his Royal Highness Prince Albert
would preside at the distribution of the medals given by
he society, on the 10th of June.

7,,€.6,7.,

ANNIVERSARY DINNER OF THE FISH-
MONGERS' COMPANY.

Last night the annual dinner of this ancient company
took place in their hall, Loadon-bridge, Mr. Benjamin
Shaw, Prime Warden, in the chair, supported on the
right by Viscount Hardinge, the Baron de Goldamid,
Sir R. Bethell, Solicitor-General, Mr. J. Masterman,
M.P., and Sir J. Duke, M.P. ; and on the left by Ad-
tniral Sir C. Napier, Mr. W. G. Hayter, M.P., Mr.
W. Keogh, M.P., Solicitor-General for Ireland, Mr.
Sergeant Goulburn, Mr. Sergeant Channell, Mr. Alder-
man Thompson, M.P., and Mr. H. A. Aglionby, M.P.
Among the company present we also observed—Mr.
Alderman Cubitt, M.P., Mr. E. Miall, M.P., Mr. E.
Ball, M.P., Mr. Hadfield, M.P., Mr. F. Crossley,
M.P., Mr. J. Kershaw, M.P., Mr. Cheetham, M.P.,
Mr. M. Chambers, M.P., Mr. Alderman Humphery, &c.
Lord HARDING; in reply to the toast of "The Army
and Navy," said that the army felt deeply sensible of
any compliment given to them, and were particularly
proud to be associated with the citizens of London, who,
they remembered, after the battle of Waterloo and other
serious occasions, when thousands of orphans were de-
prived of their fathers, had come forward with a great
and generous liberality to repair the misfortunes of war.
He assured the meeting that the army was at the pre-
sent moment in an admirable state of discipline. It had
been proved in recent times, he said, by the battles
which had taken place in India under Sir C. Napier, Lord
Gough, and others, that the British soldiers had not dege-
nerated from what they were in the glorious• days of the
Peninsular war, when they fought and conquered, and did
their duty like men. (Hear, hear.) The army and navy
had a very serious duty to perform in enabling this great
commercial country to carryon its transaction sin security.
The one branch of the service held our colonial posses.
sions in safety, and it was a remarkable fact that, in
Australia our soldiers did not go to the diggings, but re-
mained firmly at their posts, while the other branch of
the service did its duty triumphantly on, every sea.
(Hear.) He begged also to say, that he was proud to
have his name associated with that of his gallant friend
Sir C. Napier, whom he had the good fortune to know
for upwards of 40 years—his first acquaintance with him
having commenced at the battle of Busaco, when the
present General Sir C. Napier having been wounded
with a spent ball, he saw his gallant friend carrying him
off the field of battle. (Hear.) His gallant friend had,
therefore, learnt the profession of a soldier under the
great Duke • and might, if he had continued in it, been
as distinguished as a soldier as he had since been as a
sailor. He trusted that this country would long con-
tinue to enjoy its present peace and prosperity, and that
his gallant friend and himself would not be called upon
for any further operations. (Cheers.)
Admiral Sir C. NAPIER begged to return thanks, in
the first place, to the company for the honour they had
done him in inviting him to that magnificent festival,
and, in the second place, to the chairman for coupling
his name with the profession to which he had the honour
to belong. He'had had frequent occasions in this great
commercial capital of the world of returning thanks for
the navy, but he did not think he had ever done so with
more pleasure than on the present occasion, because he
was happy to say that we had at last got a navy
(laughter)---thanks to the late Government, who came
torward and told the Parliament and the country that
the navy was in an unsatisfactory state, and that the
country was not secure—the consequence of which was
that Parliament, he might almost say by acclamation,
had voted a larger force for the protection of the coun-
try, and that force, he hoped and trusted, would soon
arrive at the point which it ought to reach. (Hear,
hear.) The present Government, he must also say to
their credit, had followed up the views of the late
Government, and carried them out as far as they
possibly could. The late Government did even
a little more, for, although he was not a friend of theirs,
he thought it just and due to them to say that, finding
that the navy had for many years been very eatl
neglected, they appointed a committee to investigate
the cause of the neglect—he might almost call it the
falling off of the British navy, and a very proper report
the committee had made. The present Government, he
was happy to say, had carried it out to a great extent.
They had improved the position of the sailor ; they
had given him more pay, and they had laid a foundation
for the establishment of a strong and permanent navy
in the same way as we had a permanent army and a
permanent artillery. He hoped and trusted that the
encouragement which was now being given to the
navy would bring forth good fruits, and that we should
no longer see the Government begging and praying
sailors to come forward and enter the navy ; but that
we should see them anxious to enter it as one of the
most splendid situations which a sailor could pos-
sibly possess. (Hear, hear.) Perhaps the time was
come when the British navy would be looked up to
with more attention and respect than it had been for
a great number of years. There was a storm brewing
in the east which looked very black indeed. God only
knew how it would end. At the very moment he was
speaking, perhaps, the fate of the Turkish empire was
sealed. He hoped it was not, for he must say we were
not in a position to defend the Turkish empire ; but we
were in a position which would force us to be extremely
cautious in what we did. The Emperor of Russia was
famed for his moderation. He hoped we were not de-
ceived in him ; but he seemed to have Turkey at his
feet. (Hear, hear.) If what we were told was true,
his ultimatum had been rejected, and the Turks must,
therefore, depend on themselves, for we could give them
but little support. It was true we had a fleet in the
Mediterranean, and that the French had a fleet there
too; but we ought not to forget that Russia had a fleet
of 30 sail of the line in the Baltic, and if we offended
Russia, he wanted to know how we were to defend our-
selves. (Hear, hear.) Thanks to the past and the pre-
sent Administration, we bad got ten sail of the line, but
ten of course would not speak in the way that 20 would
do ; and Russia, he repeated, had 30 sail of the line in
the Baltic, while we had only ten there. But he believed,
nevertheless, that with that ten sail of the line, manned
as he hoped they would be, we might do a good deal,
and though he would not say that it would enable us to
oppose the enormous force of Russia, yet one thing he
would say, that, if unfortunately war should be declared,
the British navy would be " ready, aye ready" to do its
duty. (Applause.)
The following toasts were then given in succession :
"Her Majesty's Ministers," by the Prime Warden, for
which Mr. Hayter returned thanks ; "The Prime
Warden," by Lord Hardinge, to which the former re-
plied ; " TlThear Honorary ,
o.rfyThFereßemeperneseonf
tathtieveCsoomfpthaenyc,ity"
the Prime ,
by the Prime
.Warden,
health of
which
Baronwas
d G acknowledgedoldsm idb,y" Sir
by
the
ja
PrimemesDue , Duke “T
Warden, who expressed an earnest hope that
the community (the Jews) to which that gentleman be-
longed would soon be admitted to all the rights and pri-
vileges of British subjects, for which Baron de Goldsmid
eturned thanks; "The Solicitor-General for England,"
by the Prime Warden, for which Sir R. Bethell returned
thanks.

—The PRIME WARDEN, in giving "The health of Mr.
Keogh, the Solicitor-General for Ireland," said, that if
the principle were established throughout that country
which was acted upon by the Fishmongers' Company
towards their 500 tenants there, he thought it would be
productive of great advantage. The Fishmongers' Com-
pany made no distinction as regarded the religious prin-
ciples of their tenants, but treated Catholic
tant, Presbyterian and Methodist and Protes-
, with equal indul-
gence. They also recognised a sort of tenant-right—
that was to say, where a tenant had improved
the estate,
he received from the incoming tenant a sum equivalent
to the value of the improvements.
M (Hear.)
r. KEOGH, in returning thanks, corroborated the
Company had long been distinguished in Ireland by the
manner in which they treated their tenants ; and said
he could safely add his testimony, that if all the land-
lords went and did likewise, that portion of the British
dominions would ere long be a help and an assistance,
instea,d of a drag on this country.
Several other toasts were given, and the company,
which consisted of upwards of 100 persons, separated
about half-past 11 o'clock.
tueTuhse, dinner,
pner,rwevhiidcedh washy m
in
Messrs,
, Rin
and a
highegst
adnedgr.Beerysurnmepr:
Corahill. Mr. Harker acted as
toastmaster;
selection
evening, of vocalunde music was performed in the course of
the
of
Mr. Hobbs, assisted
Inge, Mr. Machin, and Mr-
H.
the direction
H.
Mr. Frances, Mr. Cummings,