The Sun.
London, England, 1847-06-07 00:00:00

LITERATURE,

A SHORT TREA7ISEonthe STEAM-ENGINE,
adapted to the use of SCHOOLS, in which are
given PRACJICAL RULES for the USE of EN-
GINEERS, By James Hann, A.1.C.E., Mathema-
tical Master of King's College School, 6-c.

To the practical engineer this work will be found
to he invaluable. Every difficulty is supplied by a
practical rule, and numerous examples are also given,
worked out at length, so that the application of the
methods to what is required in actual business is
brought within the capabilities of any one possessing
a moderate knowledge of common arithmetic. At
the same time, as a study of the mathematical theory
of the steam-engine, the investigations of the various
subjects are handled with great ability and given in
a remarkably clear and comprehensive manner. The
author treats on the work dune on the piston, the
duty of an engine, the safety valve, parallel
motion, the eccentric wheel, the crank, the fly-
wheel, &c., in each of which the latest
and most approved theories are adopted, and in many
respects greatly improved. We may refer to the
article on " Parallel Motion" as singularly original
and ingenious, and calculated to effectually simplify
a hitherto intricate inquiry.
In the preface, the author denounces in forcible
terms the unjust prejudice sometimes absurdly enter-
tained azainst the productions of continental authors,
who, especially in France and Germany, have for
years been the principal motive powers in the onward
T progress of science :
"ambour's investigations have been handled rather
roughly by some reviewers, who seem to consider it to
be a sort of scientific sacrilege for a Frenchman to write
on the steam engine, as our illustrious countryman,
Watt, was the great improver and almost the invent, r
of it ; but if those who sneer at our continental neigh-
bours will take the trouble of reading their writings, they
must be ignorant indeed if they do not find sufficient
either to convince their judgment, or to modify their
vanity and prejudice.
" Those who are at all conversant in the history of
French science, know that, since the revival of learning
in Europe, France, under every dynasty, has produced
men who have been the admiration of the world, and
whose inventions and discoveries succeeding generations
will ever applaud as some of the noblest monuments of
science ever reared by the human intellect. It has been
well observed by a Northumbrian writer, that the
philosopher of one country sees not an enemy in that
of another ; he takes his seat in the temple of science,
and asks not who sits beside him.

" Those who can see nothing beyond the limits of
their own country should read what one of our own
poets has so beautifully expressed,

" Genius is of no country, her pure ray
Spreads all around, as generous as the day."

" It is unnecessary to expatiate more fully on this
subject, as every liberal and enlightened mind must con-
sider national prejudice to be a most baneful evil ; and
he who cannot admire greatness not only in whatever
country, but also in whatever region of intellect it may
be found, botra3.3 a want of that generous feeling which
expands itself into universal benevolence towards all
mankind."

We also find the following sensible remarks on the
subject of the crank :
The crank, as applied in the steam engine, has been
a great stumbling•block to many who have not made
themselves acquainted with elementary principles. The
connecting rod acting obliquely on the crank, has in-
duced some to consider that there is a great loss of
power ; in fact, it can be shown that the force on the
crank is to the force, if it acted at right angles all the
way round, as twice the diameter of a circle to the cir-
cumference. But then the piston, or moving power, only
moves through twice the diameter whilst it forces the
crank through the whole circumference ; hence, what is
lost in force is gained in speed, for the power multiplied
into the space it passes over, is equal to the resistance
multiplied by the space that it passes over. If the force
acted at right angles all the way round, it must itself
move through the same space that the crank does; there-
fore, independently of friction, nothing would be gained
by such an adaptation.
" One simple elementary truth runs throughout the
whole of Theoretical Mechanics, viz., that no power can
be either gained or lost by mechanical combination, if
we except the friction of the parts that enter into that
combination. 'Without a clear knowledge this in the
first place, we cannot expect to enter upon the whole
question where friction is taken into the account, with
any great advantage. For want of a knowledge of this
simple principle, immense sums have been expended to
remedy defects which had no existence whatever, except
in the imagination of the contrivers."
On the whole, as a work of mathematical study
for the man of science, as a practical manual for the
engineer, and as a book for the use of schools, this
little volume is admirable, and without a rival. In
this age of mechanical invention and railway specula-
tion and enterprise, such a work has long been a de-
sideratum, and it cannot fail of being deservedly ac-
ceptable to those for whom it is intended.

MAGAZINES (CONTINUED). '
BENTLEY'S MISCELLANY.
The illustrations of the present number of Bentley
are a portrait of Fenimore Cooper and a portrait of
Charlotte Corday, each of which is accompanied by
an interesting biographical memoir. The memoir of
Charlotte Corday is extracted from the forthcoming
volume of M. de Lamartine's "History of the Giron-
dins," and it contains the record of :the most pure and
the most romantic love that ever took possession of
the heart of man. At her trial before the revolu-
tionary tribunal there was present an artist who was
sketching her likeness :
" Behind the painter was a youth, whose fair hair,
blue eyes, and pale complexion proclaimed him to be a
child of the north. He was standing on tip-toe, in order
to have a better view of the prisoner. At every answer,
the manly vigour, and almost feminine sound of Charlotte's
voice, made him shudder and change colour. Unable to
master his emotion, he provoked several times, by his
involuntary exclamations, tho murmurs of the crowd,
and attracted the prisoner's attention. The moment the
president pronounced sentence of death that young man
half arose, with the gesture of a man who protests in his
heart, and immediately sank back, as if his strength
failed him. Charlotte, indifferent about her own fate,
noticed that motion. She felt that, at a moment when
she was abandoned by all on earth, one soul was
attached to her, and that in the midst of that hostile
crowd she had one unknown friend. She thanked him
with a look: it was their only communication on earth.
" That young stranger was Adam Lux, a German
republican, deputed to Paris by the revolutionary party
of Mayence, in order to unite the movements of Ger-
many with those of France in the common cause of
human reason and the freedom of nations."
As she was conveyed to the place of execution.
" Adam Lux was awaiting the cart at the entrance of
the Rue Saint-Honore; he piously followed the wheels
as far as the foot of the scaffold.
" He engraved in his heart,' he said, ' her angelic
meekness. Amid the barbarous howlings of the crowd,
the mild expression of her beautiful eyes revealed her
tender yet intrepid soul—those charming eyes that
would have moved a rock! . . . Let the place of her
execution be holy ground, and let a statue be erected to
her with these words—Greater than Brutus. To die
for her, and, like her, to be beaten by the hand of the
executioner, to feel, in dying, the same edge that cut off
the angelic head of Charlotte, and to be united to her iu
heroism, liberty, love, and death, is henceforth my only
prayer. I shall never attain her sublime virtue; but is
it not just that the object adored should ever be superior
to the worshipper?' "

" A few days after her execution, Adam Lux pub-
lished an apology of Charlotte Corday, and participated
in her offence in order to share her martyrdom. Being
arrested for this audacious provocation, he was cast into
the Abbayc. So then I shall dio for her!' cried he, as
he passed over the threshold of the prison. And he died
accordingly, soon after, hailing the scaffold consecrated
by the blood of Charlotte, as the altar of love and liberty."
The story of " Captain Spike " is continued, and
the scene of this chapter takes place on the wreck of
the schooner which had been upset in the squall.
Mulfred and Jack Tier have managed, by dint of
great exertion, to save Mrs. Budd, Rose, and Biddy
from drowning, and they were all assembled on the
keel of the schooner, floating on the gulf stream—
the
boat has been lost—they have no water, and only
a small portion of biscuit and three apples as provi-
sions ; fortunately a storm of rain comes on, and
Mulford, by cutting channels along the keel and
deepening them into small wells, manages to collect
sufficient fresh water to slake their thirst. He per-
ceives by the bubbles which rise from the wreck
that the air pent up within her hold, which had ren-
dered her buoyant, is escaping, and is convinced that
she cannot float for many hours longer. In the grey
of the dawn he fancies he perceives the boat drifting
at a distance, and notwithstanding the close vicinity
of the sharks he strikes to swim towards the object
he sees in hopes to regain the boat, and thus save
their lives. Alfred Crowquill makes a holster pistol
talk (as he is wont to make chattels and moveables
discourse) and tell several most amusing love adven-
tures of a" nate Irishman," aforetime the owner of
the said pistol ; and Albert Smith finishes his go-a-
head day with Barnum in regular go-a-head style.
Whoever reads it must laugh " slick right away."
Dr. W. C. Taylor gives us under the title
of " A Merchant Prince of the Middle Ages,"
an admirable account of Jacques Coeur, the great
French financier. He was the Finance Minister
of Charles VII., and to the financial combinations
of Jacques Coeur, rather than to the apocryphal
exploits of Joan of Arc, is the restoration of the mo-
narch to the throne of France to be attributed. In
fact, it may be doubted whether Joan of Arc was not
the mere tool of Jaques Cceur, acting under his
guidance, to secure the efficient carrying out of his
plans. The reasonable, he convinced by his argu-
ments, whilst, through the agency of Joan of Arc,
he appealed to thJ superstitious fears and hopes of
the unreasoning and enthusiastic, and thus carried
out his plans. The history of Jacques Coeur is a study
for any statesman. Ihe other papers in this number
are of more than average merit.

DOUGLAS JERROLD'S.
The present number concludes the fifth volume, and
it opens with the following annoencement :--
"A few words at the conclusion of this—the fifth—
volume may here be permitted by way of preface to the
volume about to •nauQ.

" The object purpoFed by the establishment of ' The
Shilling Magazine' has been acknowledged by unequi-
vocal success from the first. Aiming at rivalry with no
elder periodical, it sought a new path for itself, in which
it is hoped it has uudeviatingly continued. There may
have been occasions when performance has halted short
of intention,—but the purpose that animated the first
number is as vital as ever, and seeks to vindicate itself
in the ensuing volume, in which—with the appearance of
novel and characteristic papers from practised pens—
will be found a gossiping commentary on the leading
topics of the times in a New Series of The Hedgehog
Letters.'

"In addition to this, a New Story by the Editor will
be commenced as soon as it shall be sufficiently advanced
to ensure its unbroken continuance to the end."
Right glad are we that Juniper Hedgehog is about, to
resume his pen. He is the very spirit of "Punch'
a judicious mixture of spirit, sweet, and acid. We
look forward with pleasure to his reappearance in the
next number. Right glad are we to find that the
editor is about to commence a new story ; fur, albeit,
"the Dreamer and the Worker," which is continued
in the present number, promises to he an excellent
and instructive novel, yet the author is somewhat too
didactic, and lacks the spirit that is in St. Giles and
i
St. James. The best paper in the present number s
the one entitled " Glances at Family Biography—
Cent. per Cent." It is full of caustic sarcasm,
" richly deserved and well laid on."

THE MAN IN THE MOON. Edited by Albeit
Smith, and Angus B. Reach.
The " Man in the Moon" is a " fellow of infinite
jest." The illustrations are most humourous, the
puns most execrably laughable, and the parodies full
of fun.

THE MIRROR.
The story of the " Miser's Will" is concluded in
this number, and concluded somewhat abruptly.
Hastings, the Miser, disabused of his false suspicions
of his wife, seeks a reconciliation with her—(our
readers will remember that she was living in the house
of Smith, the rascally apothecary, as Mrs. Cart-
wright)—and Smith, finding his intrigues have been
discovered, murders Hastings, and straightway pro-
duces the will which Hastings had made in his favour.
A later will, however, is produced in favour of Mau
rice Herbert (the Frederick Wilson of the early part
of the story), the lover of Mary, and the guilt of
Smith is discovered. Smith hangs at the Old Bailey,
and Maurice and Mary are married. From a paper,
entitled " Notes on Cambridge," by an Under-gra-
duate, we extract the following :
" We wish, however, to recommend one or two things
to the notice of our readers, as the changes which would
most likely tend to increase the usefulness of our colleges
and halls. Extravagance must be checked, before a
large class of persons will be enabled to enjoy tneir ad-
vantages. We think too that the number of sizarships
might with great propriety be augmented. Although
Cambridge abounds with scholarships opened, in nearly
every case, to every British subject, yet they require, for
the most part, a previous residence in the University.
We think many men may be found, whose talents would
reflect honour on their professions, but who are unable
even to enter their names on the College books from
lack of means, much less reside the major part of one
whole year."
This is very well as far as it goes, but a much more
sweeping reformation is needed before our universi-
ties can become the useful educational establishments
which they were intended to be by their founders.
The other papers of this number (with the exception
of the one entitled " Jenny Lind, or the Idolatry of
voice,") are excellent. The paper to which we take
exception is a diatribe against music, written some-
what after the fashion of Plato's diatribe against
Poetry, almost as clever, and to the full as unjust.