The Sun.
London, England, 1856-08-16 00:00:00

The number of persons who, on this occasion, attended
the sectional and general meetings, either as members or
associates, was nearly equal to that which attended the
last meeting of the Association at Belfast, and the amount
realised by the sale of tickets was within 3/. of that received
in the northern capital of Ireland.
The number of communications laid before the Asso-
ciation was also satisfactory, and indic;.tes the fact that
the importance of the peculiar branches of physical science
to which the members have directed their attention is
daily becoming better understood and more fully appre-
ciated. The total numbers of papers actually read before
the Association at its late meeting was 2:31. Of these 40
had reference to mathematical and physical science, 26 to
chemical science, 43 to geology, 41 to zoology and botany
(including physiology), 23 to geography and ethnology,
30 to economic science and statistics, and 18 to mecha-
nical science. From this statement it would appear that
mathematics and geology are the more favoured studies of
the Association, and that zoology and botany rank next
in public interest. In the section entitled " Economic
Science and Statistics," a larger number of papers were
entered to be communicated than were actually read, but
the attendance of members at the section was more nume-

rous than usual, and the papers read were of a more prac-
tical and popular character. The sections in which the
public appeared to take the greatest interest, judging from
the diurnal attendances, were the geographical and ethno-
logical, and the geological. The discussions in these sec-
tions were naturally more general and animated, and the
proceedings were altogether of a less formal character.
A considerable number of the members left town yester-
day afternoon, so that the excursion parties appointed
for the day were not as numerous as was expected. Three
parties, however, were formed—two travelling by rail-
way and one by coach. Upwards of 100 members, includ-
ing a fair proportion of la lies, started from the Great
Western Railway Station, at nine o'clock, and visited the
tabular railway bridge over the Wye (on the South
Wales line), Chepstow Castle, the Windcliffo, and the
romantic features of this beautiful stream. Arrived at
Chepstow, the more adventurous of the party proceeded
onward to Tintern Abbey and inspected the ruins, which
were explained by one or two accomplished archaeologists
who happened to be present. The train returned to Chep-
stow in the afternoon, and the party appeared much grati-
fied at the excursion. A party of geologists also started
from the Midland Railway station at 10 o'clock for Char.
field and Tortworth, where they examined the curious ob-
jects of interest in that neighbourhood. The third party
proceeded in omnibuses and carriages on an excursion over
the Cotswold hills, visiting Wincomb (seven miles distant),
Sudeley Castle, Stanway Court, and Toddington (the resi-
dence of Lord Sudeley.)
On the return of the excursionists there was a general
move towards the metropolis, and in a very few hours
the town of Cheltenham had seen the last of the British
Association.

The following paper, "On Mercantile Steam-Transport
Economy," was read by Mr. C. Atherton, chief engineer of
her Majesty's Dockyard, Woolwich, in the section of Eco-
nomic Science and Statistics :—The construction of ships
and the administration of shipping affairs, involving a
multiplicity of considerations of a scientific and of a prac-
tical and mercantile character connected with these arts,
requires that shipping direction be regarded and treated
as the subject of an exclusive science ; and, of late years,
the progressively extended application of steam to mari-
time purposes, and the prospect of its general use as an
auxiliary power, have still further complicated the sub-
ject, and extended the range of mechanical acquirement
which is now necessary in the prosecution of steam-ship
equipment, direction, and management. It is therefore
with diffidence, and with the feeling of my not possessing
the combination of qualifications which is necessary to
ensure adequate justice being done in all respects to the
elucidation of the important subject, " Steam Transport
Economy," that I enter upon the task of bringing that
subject before the notice of the British Association for the
Promotion of Science. I am however, encouraged, by the
assuring reflection that public utility is a field in which it
is an honour to labour, that lenient consideration for indi-
vidual deficiencies and the helping hand of others will be
extended to the most humble delvers in that field, and
that credit may be earned in proportion to the roughness
and obdurate nature of the spot of ground which NV e may
have undertaken to break up, and to the perseverance
by which one may at least attempt the accomplishment of
the assigued task. Permit me, therefore, to remark that my
present appeal to the British Association is but a continua-
tion of my previous efforts in the cause of steam exposition,
with a view to bringing " Steam Transport Economy"
within the pale of arithmetical calculation; and as I shall
have occasion to refer to the enunciation of principles and
to the details of calculations which have thus preceded this
eteay, it may be convenient that I briefly enumerate the va-
rious published statements thus referred to as forming an
integral portion of this paper, and which accordingly I beg
to hand in to the association for the purposes of reference
and record. Ist. A brief essay on " Marine Engine Con-
struction and Clessitication," published by Weale in 1851.
The object of this essay was to analyse the data afforded by
published and authentic statements of the actual test-trial
performances of various steam-ships, and ascertain, by
means of such comparative analysis, what are the peculiari-
ties or proportions of bailie and what are the peculiarities
of engine-construction of those vessels which have attained
to the highest degree of locomotive efficiency, thereby also
scrutinising how far the popularly received notions in regard
to steam-ship type and marine engine construction supposed
to be most conducive to locomotive efficiency , may be in ac-
cordance with, oriu opposition to, the results of actual ex-
perience, when measured by any definite and received law.
2d. An essay on "Steam-ship Capability," originally pub-
lished in 185'3, and of which a second edition, with supple-
ment, was published by Weale in 1851. Teis essay is de-
signed to demonstrate the mutual relations which subsist
between displacement, power, and speed in steam-ships;
especially as respects the increasing scale of engine-power
by which progressive increase of speed is attained; and to
show the difficulty which attend the prosecution of a
steam service in which long passages are required to be
performed at a high rate of speed ; also to show the sacri-
fice which attends the employment of vessels of an infe-
rior type of build, as compared with vessels of a superior
type. The supplement published with the second edi
then of this essay extended the tabulsr calculations to em-
brace vessels of hypothetical magnitude, and to demon-
strate a system of 1:s. d -arithmetical calculation applicable
to e-timating the cost of goods, conveyance per ton weight
by steam-ships, based on the constructive type of the ship,
the speed to be re Lised , and the size of ship employed to do
the work. The appendix to this essay embraces a disserta-
tion on the probable capabilities of ships of unprecedented
magnitude, showing the advantage of magnitude so far as
mechanical principles are concerned, irrespective of mer-
cantile considerations, and under what combinations of
speed and distance without re-coaling, comparatively with
the more frequent coaling depots available to smaller ves-
sels, the mechanical ad v intage of magnitude becomes nen-
tralieed ; also giving new tables for facilitating steam-ship
calculations, by showing the cubes of numbers from 5 to
25, rising by the decimal 'Ol, and the cube roots of the
squares of all numbers likely tube embraced in the tonnage
displacement of ships. 31. A paper on " Steam-ship Capa-
bility," read before the Society of Arts, London, May 16,
1855. The object of this paper was to expose the indefinite
nature of the terms "horse power" and ' tonnage" as re-
spects their not being what they are generally supposed to
be, definite units of measurement of engine-power and
ships' size, also to show the uselessness for scientific pur-
poses of all statistical data based on nominal horse-power
and nominal tonnage, and the fallacy of all calculat ons
based on those indefinite terms, thence showing the neces-
sity for some definite measure of power being legalised as
the unit of power to be denoted by the " marine horse-
power," and used as the base of calculation and contract
engagement in eteatn shipping affairs. 4th. A paper en
"Tonnage Registration" read before the Society of Arts,
London, Jan. 16, 1856, with the discussions thereon. The
object of this paper was to show the insufficiency for
scientific purposes of the system of tonnage registration
now in force as prescribed by the Merchant Shipping Bill
of 1854, in so far that under this act the registered tonnage
of a ship affords no certain indication of the tons weight
of cargo that the ship will carry, nor does it give, even
approximately, the displacement with reference to any
given draught, nor does the registration afford any indica-
tion of the power capable of being worked up to by the
engines of steam-ships, or any other data whereby the dy-
namic properties or locomoti e duty of vessels may be scru-
tinised on scientific principles. By this paper I brought
forward certain suggestions for public consideration and
discussion with a view to our official registration of ship-
ping being rendered more comprehensive for the fulfilment
of the various useful purposed to which statistical registra-
tion, if complete, would undoubtedly conduce, in a scien-
tific point of view, irrespectively of merely fiscal objects.
These papers, of 16th May, 1855, and 16th of Jan., Ic 56
urging the establishment and recognition of definite units
as the legal ndineasurernent of marine engine-power :and
ships' tonnage, I beg respectively to snbinit to the notice
of the committee appointed by this association for the con-
sideration of the tonnage question, of which committee I
had the honour of being named a member, but I was under
the necessity of declining to take part on this committee
in consequence of my being, as above stated, committed to
certain views and publicly engaged in agitating the ques-
tion of tonnage registration amendment, with a view to
supplying the deficiencies of the present system. Having
thus ehown that various investigations essentially connected
with the elucidation of the subject now before us, " Stearn
Transport Economy," have constantly and publicly en-
gaged my attention since 1851, I may now, in the begin-
ning of my paper, announce the proposition to which
hope to direct the' attention of the British Association.
Now, what I have undertaken to demonstrate is this—that
in consequence of there being no legalised definition of
the terms power and tonnage as standard units of
quantity applied to the prosecution of steam navigation,
there is practically no definite measure of quantity what-
ever attached to those terms, even although they are Fee
generally made use of as the base of pecuniary contracts,
and that, in addition to the private evils as between buyer
and seller resulting from this singular anomaly in matters
of mercantile account, the public evils resulting from nomi-
nal "horse-power" and
"tonnage' b
recognised as being
h
cannot be scientifically
exlrm'sthwarhtiche
working power of marine machinery orpsstrheslizge either
ash•p
are monstrous, inasmuch as they publicly defeat science
Bmt e ae
amn hofi p
iconstruction aa nn da
from being broughtai
jageat
eo
ntas a bear o n
ati
steam-chip m
proof
whereby to confirm the existence and establish the
continued adoption of good practice where good practice
does exist, and to detect error either in the construction
of steamers or in the management of ateamers ill cases
where had types of construction and rualadminiatration