The Sun.
London, England, 1846-09-17 00:00:00

BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE.
SOUTHAMPTON, TUESDAY EVENING.—To-day, the
excitement eaused by the visit of Prince Albert has
passed away, the town has resumed its wonted appear-
ance, and the proceedings of the sections have observed
their usual course, without the disturbance caused by
the arrangements for " amusing his Royal Highness,''
as the president of .one of the sections observed, when a
popular abstract of a paper had been read, instead of the
paper itself. Nothing is said of another visit from the
Prince, and the Brent gun of the meeting, the gun cotton
of Professor Schoenbein, will be fired off to-night with-
out the presence of the royal patron. In the hurry to
save the railway train last eyeing. it was impossible to
do more than give the results; oe,: Mr. Scott Ressell's ex-
perireieets en the resistsnce of railway trains at different
velocities, I now return to that and to one or two other
subjects which there eras no time to notice in yesterday's
prticeedings..
RESISTANCE TO RAILWAY TRAINS.—The result of
Mr. Scott Russell's experiments are so remarkable, and
so opposed to all previous 'notions on the sub ject. that
their iteenrucy may not unreasonably be questioned ;
and dUring the discussion that ensued, when he was
rr quired to detail the mode by which the re-
sults were attained, there seemed some reason to sup-
pose that the resistances noted were caused under dif-
fering eucumstances, so that the actual varying resistances
by different velocities alone were not correctly given.
Some of the results were taken from experiments made
at different times and under various 'conditions, and as
most of the new experiments were made on actual work-
ing teaies, it may well be supposed that a difference
vitt arise. Nevertheless, it is very remarkable, that
otleosiy circumstances of the experiment, the resist-
;met-steels velocity of 45 miles an hour should be less than
at a velocity of 31; and still further strange is it, that
whilst between a speed of 32 and of 33 miles an hour
there is no difference in the resistance, that there should
be between the velocities of 46 and 47 miles an hour, an
increase of resistance from 23.11b5. to 33.71b5., arid be-
tween 50 and 51 miles a diminution of from 32.91b5. to
26.41b5. per ton; whilst between the velocity of 51 miles
an hour, and of 53 there should be an increase from
26 41tes to 41.71b5. In the formula which corresponds to-
lerably closely with the results of experiment, Mr. Scott
Russell estimated the friction at a constant quantity of
about 61bs the ton; the next element in the resistance was
the atmosphere, and this he estimated by multiplying
the area by the pressure and by the square-of ,the velo-
city. The residue consisted of the various other causes
of obstruction which tended to impede the progress of
the train and occasion loss of power. One of these
causes was the concussion of the earth by the moving
train; for it was impossible the surface of the earth could
be continually agitated by the passing trains without a
great loss of power. Mr. Scott Russell offered no expla-
nation of the causes that could produce such extraordi-
nary results as his experiments exhibited. Ins, the dis-
cussion that followed, Dr. Robinson. stated, in reference
to the agitation caused by railway trains, that in his
astronomical observations he:had perceived the 'surface of
the mercury agitated at a distance.upwards of 7,000 feet
from a moving traits, and as the concussion would be ex-
tended both ways, it would amount to an agitation of
the earth over an aiea'bf the diameter of 1,500 feet.
GEOLOGICAL 'TRUCTJRE OF • AUSTRALIA.—Among
the papers read at the geological section yesterday was
one by Mr. Jukes, giving a sketch of the geology of
Australia. A portion of the sketch was of course only
conjectural, but observing that a chain of hills passed
-from New South Wales in a direction nearly parallel
to the eastern coast, consisting of granite and other pri-
mary rocks, and that the order.of stratification was the
same as in Europe, he concluded that the great level
tertiary formations on the opposite coast were in the
same order of succession, and that the geological axis of
that country lies in the chain of hills from New South
\Vales, and that there is no greatly elevated districts in
the interior.
EVENING LECTURE.—Yesterday evening. Mr Lyell de-
livered a discourse in the Assembly Rooms, " On the
Valley and Delta of the Mississippi, and other points in
the geology of the United States, from observations
made in the years 1845 46.". The lecture was illustra-
ted by gigantic diagrams, exhibiting the principal rocks
and strata, and their dispositions, iu the United States.
There, as in this country, the same formations are ob-
served, and following in the same order. It is Mr.
Lyeli's opinion that most of the geological formations
were produced by the gradual though slow operations of
time, and in the valley of the Mississippi he found abun-
dant evidence in support of his views. To the deposi-
tion of the mud and vegetable matter brought down by
the stream of that mighty river he attributed the forma-
lion of the large peninsula of Florida ; and the appear-
ance-a the banks of the Mississippi, with parts of
.the
trunks of trees groWing over each other at all levels,
formed, he thought, the eleinsnts of future coil fields.
The room was very well attended, and the lecture was
received with trilieh applause.
ELECTRO-P'HYSIo7.• r. —This morning Matteuci
mud,- a communication in French in the physical section,
containing the summary of his researches in electro-
physiolegy. lie attributes muscular contraction to elec-
trical force, and he contended, that by the forms of the
muscles end of the nerves, they were calculated to form
voltaic batteries, and to become in the positive and nega-
tive states of electricity. The communication was re-
plete with interestit g speculetions and demonstrations ;
but, as Professor Owen observed, they required to be
read and considered before they could be perfectly un-
derstood. Sir J. Herschel said the Cause of muscular
force had been hitherto not satisfactorily explained, and
he made a few suppositions, merely with a view of
discussion, to the effect that it, was possible that
muscular contraction might be caused by the altered
position of the muscles of muscular fibrine, supposiug
them to continuous be ellipsoids, and that the changes of
p ,sition might be produced by electrical currents. Mt-.
Carpenter maintained, on the contrary, that tri uscularcen-
traction is not due to nervous influence in many cases,
and he felt confident that muscular fibrine is composed
of tubes divided into sections longer than their dia-
meters. The contraction of these fibres, he said, was
produced, not by reversing their positions, as conjec-
tured by Sir John Herschel, but by the depression of
the longitude of sectional divisions.
Another communication en a similar subject was made
however, without refer-
r"bnye e Dr.to Jt
hoes eapcht i Bo
nu
ol lta
electricityin w h ich;
merit of a bird from the egg, he described the develop-
The proceedings in this section were considerably
distal bed by the rattling of plates and knives in the ad-
joining room, preparatory to the general dinner, which
is to take place this evening,

INFLUENCH OF SPONGY PLATINA.—The Rev. Dr.
Robins, n read a paper in the chemical section," On the
Influence exerted by finely-dividNl Platina on the Elec-
trodes of a Voltameter." Though the communication
occupied a lorg time, the principal point which Dr.
Hobinson's experiments were calculated to show was,
that when the electrode s of a voltameter are covered with
a finely-comminuted platina, the decomposition of water
is effected nut only by a less powerful current of electri-
city, but when, in fact, there js apparently no active
current whatever. He thought this effect analogous to
other instances in which the 'inherent forces or attrac-
tions of bodies are increased by bringing them into closer
,orif tier, by extending their surfaces.
Mr. G Itt:VE agr-eed %sith' Dr. Robinson as to the cause
f the incrtased and in cominenting on the subject
he alluded to the peculiar fact, that ebullition in no cir-
cumsNnces seems to take place excepting from the sur-
fazt.e of solid bodies. The bubbles of air in a glass of
Champagne, for example, always rise from the bottom
or sides of the glass, and the steam of boiling water
always collects in bubbles against the solid surface,
and never rises from amongst the particles of the liquid.
He was of opinion that, supposing it possible to heat
water without contact with a solid surface, fluid would
not boil till the whole mass burst into ebullition at once.
THE TUBULAR BRIDGES.—In the mechanical section
to-day Mr. Fairb‘h n read the whole paper, of which an
abstract only had been given yesterday, respecting the
proposed construction of tubular bridges over the river.
Conway and the Menai Straits. The discussion that
took place after the reading of the paper was very inte-
resting. The bridge at Menai, which is to be called the
Britannia-bridge, will be supported on four piers, and
the distance between the central piers will be 450 feet.
The weight of the metal is estimated at 1,200 tons, and
it will be constructed of wrought iron. Mr. Eyton sug-
gested that it would be better to strengthen the tube by
inverted iron arches, to protect it from the action of the
wind. Dr. Robinson said that, though the bridge might
be quite strong enough to bear a dead weight, he
thought the engineers ought to ascertain what was
likely to be the resilient force on the sudden rushing of
the engine on to the bridge. He apprehended also that
the vibrations might be cumulative, and increase as the
train advanced, until they produced a serious effect. At
the same time he trusted to the skill and caution of the
engineers, that they would make the tube sufficiently
strong, and with respect to the calculated action of the
wind at 50Ibs. to the square loot, he thought they
had exceeded all possible effects of storms by
one•half ; for a wind .acting with the power of 501bs.
o
tof
the square foot must be moving with the velocity
110 miles an hour. During the severest storm
that he had known the velocity of the wind was not
more than fifty miles an hour. Mr. Fairbairn, in reply
to these and to other remarks, said chat not one-sixth of
the estimated breaking weight could be placed on the
bridge. The plates on the outside at the top would be
nine sixteenths of an inch, and those inside would be
half an inch thick. The bridge, from bank to bank,
would consist of one rectangular tube, rivetted together
and resting on the supports. To avoid the effect of
vibration it was intendeti to lay the rails on vulcanised
India rubber, about two inches thick. The tube would
he elevated to its position in compartments, to be after-
wards rivetted together when fitted. The first compart-
ment nearest the pier would be raised on pontoons at
high tide, and fitted into a rest at the bottom of a groove
fixing the bridge
in the pier. up which it would be elevated by hydraithe
pyira(: sauhrtig.
hThweinodnlydurrisinkgtothbee freaairsinedginthe
first compart-
ment, for when that was fixed the remainder would not
he attended with risk. With respect to the stn.ngth
the bridge to bear a lateral pressure, he said that had
not yet been tried, but it would be efficiently tested on
the model bridge, and the suggestions of Dr. Robinson
respecting sudden impact, and the effect of continued
vibration, should be attended to. The Presieent was
compelled, by shortness of time, to put an end to the.
disctussiou.