shore, in order to get down to the level of the intended works at that end of the tunnel. Though the principle of operation used in sinking this shaft was familiar to every well-sinker and miner, its magnificent diameter, and the proportionate dimensions of all its works, demanded a more than or dinary degree of skill and intre pidity on the part of the engineer. A tower or cylinder of brick-work fifty feet in diameter, the walls of which were three feet in thickness and forty feet high, and resting on a circle of cast-iron, having its lower edges chisel-shaped, was built with the utmost care on the surface of the ground, and immediately over the intended situation of the shaft. In the upper part was suspended a steam-engine of thirty-six horse power, with boiler, fire-place, &c. for the purpose of drainage, and of lifting the excavated earth to the surface. On the 2nd of March, 1825, William Smith, esq., M.P. for Norwich, laid the first brick of the tower, and on the 1st of April following, the excavation commenced within its inclosure. As they proceeded, this immense structure, with its engine, &c. descended, without accident, and continued to do so for twenty days, through successive strata of gravel, &c., until at thirty-seven feet from the surface it rested upon a solid bed of clay. It was there permitted to remain, but the excavation was continued, and the cylinder under-built to the depth of twenty-four feet. At this level, the diameter was reduced to twenty-five feet, and another cylinder inserted, sunk twenty feet more. This lower part was intended as a tank or receptacle for the drainage water, and into it were carried the suction-pipes of

the engine-pump for the purpose of carrying it off. The total height of the brickwork of this shaft is therefore eighty-four feet, sixtyfour feet of which are of fifty feet diameter, and twenty feet of twenty-five feet. It consumed about two hundred and sixty thousand bricks, and twelve hundred barrels of cement. Its weight is about nine hundred tons. It is intended, eventually, as the stair case for persons on foot. Near it, a little to the southward, will be built the shaft by which carriages are to ascend and descend this will be one hundred and sixty feet in diameter.

The soundings along the proposed line across the river gave twelve feet water at the lowest. tides, and thirty-six at the highest, in the deepest parts; the bed was found to be a stratum of sand, about three feet eight inches thick, lying upon one of about half that thickness composed of sand and clay; beneath was a bed of tenacious clay. The descending order of the strata at the lower part of this bed, in which the tunnel is executed, is as follows: Stiff blue clay, about two feet; silt, seven feet; ditto, mixed with shells, seven feet; indurated clay, three feet; silt and gravel stones, three feet. It was found that the whole length, from shaft to shaft, would be thirteen hundred feet.....

Early in December, 1825, the: first horizontal excavation com menced. At the bottom of the wider part of the shaft, a shield of cast iron, weighing one hundred and twenty tons, thirty-seven feet in width, by twenty-two feet in height, and eight feet in depth, with its complement of thirty-six workmen, each in his respective cell, was entered into the solid

earth, and began its new and extraordinary march. It proceeded for several months at a rate of about two feet in twenty-four hours, displacing from ninety to one hundred tons of earth, which were lifted to the surface by the engine in the shaft, Five thousand five hundred bricks were used in each foot. On the 2nd of March, 1827, it had advanced four hundred and seventy feet, or about one third of the whole length: and though the line of the tunnel dips about three feet in one hundred, the excavation in one part, towards the middle of the river, had approached within ten feet of the water above it. The brick-work, which followed immediately, filled exactly the aperture which was made by the shield, and contained in its mass two arched passages, or road-way, each thirteen feet nine inches wide, and sixteen feet ten inches high, lying by the side of each other, with a wall of three feet six inches thickness between them; the passages at first have no connection, but subsequently are laid together by arched perforations through the brick-work which separates them. The sides are three feet, and the arches at top and bottom two feet seven inches thick at their smallest parts. About eleven thousand bricks per day were used, entirely laid in cement; and the labour of one hundred men was constantly kept up by relays at stated periods. A main from a gas-work is laid along the floor, which conveys the gas to columns, placed in the connecting arches as they are formed, branches from which illuminate both the road-ways in a beautiful and most perfect manner; and a total freedom from water is preserved by drains beneath, which empty them VOL. LXIX.

selves into the engine tank in the shaft. In the use of these and innumerable other expedients to facilitate the progress and anticipate or overcome the difficulties of this extraordinary work, Mr. Brunel has displayed such fertility of invention, depth of resource, and professional intrepidity, as must place him in the highest rank of scientific engineers. But these qualities were destined to a very severe trial; on the 18th of May, 1827, at a distance of five hundred and forty-four feet from the shaft, the river found its way through a portion of loose earth, and entered the tunnel, through the shield, with a velocity and volume which filled the tunnel and the shaft in fifteen minutes. This happened while the workmen were at their duties, but no lives were lost. About one thousand tons of loose soil and rubbish descended into the tunnel.

The breach was examined by means of the diving-bell, and repaired by depositing about fifteen hundred cubic yards of clay in bags in and around it. The water was then pumped out, and the permanent works were found very slightly injured; the shield was restored and adjusted, and in the latter part of September the works recommenced. The dangerous part was passed, and the works were carried fifty-two feet further, when the river, at six a. m. of the 12th of January, 1828, broke through the shield a second time. The tunnel was filled in less than ten minutes, and the rush of water brought with it a current of air that put out the lights, and, principally owing to this circumstance, six of the workmen were unable to extricate themselves the rest escaped. Mr. Brunel reported that 2 M

the aperture in the bed of the river is much less than at the last accident, and consequently that the mischief may be repaired at a much less expense. The point at which this irruption occurred was

at six hundred feet from the shaft, within twenty-five feet of the middle of the channel of the river, leaving about seven hundred feet still to be executed.

D. Redmund, of Greek-street, Sobo; for improvements in the construction and manufacture of hinges.

E. Galloway, of the London-road, engineer; for an improved rotary steamengine.

J. Whiting, of Ipswich; for improvements in window sashes and frames.

J. Fraser, of Houndsditch, London; for an improved method of constructing capstans and windlasses.

J. Fraser, of Houndsditch, London; for an improved method of constructing boilers for steam-engines.

W. W. Hall, of Baltimore, at present residing in Westminster, attorney at law; for an engine for moving and propelling ships, boats, carriages, mills, and machinery of every kind. Com. municated by a foreigner.

W. Hobson, of Mark Field, Stamfordhill; for an improved method of paving streets, lanes, roads, and carriage ways in general.

J. Neville, of Shad Thames, Surrey; for an improved carriage to be worked or propelled by means of steam.

W. Mason, of Castle-street, Westminster; for improvements in the construction of those axle-trees and boxes for carriages, which are usually termed or known by the names of mail axletrees and boxes..

R. Copland, of Wilmington-square; for improvements upon a patent already obtained by him for combinations of apparatus for gaining power.

R. Barlow, of Chelsea; for a new combination of machinery, or new motion for superseding the necessity of the ordinary crank in steam engines, and for other purposes where power is required.

J. F. Daniell, of Gower-street; for

gas.

J. Oldham, of Dublin; for improve. ments in the construction of wheels designed for driving machinery, which are to be impelled by water or by wind, and which improvements are applicable to propelling boats and other vessels.

R. Hindmarsh, of Newcastle upon Tyne; for an improvement in the construction of capstans and windlasses.

R. Stirling, of Galston, and J. Stirling, Glasgow; for improvements in air engines for moving machinery.

J. White, of Southampton; for in provements in the construction of pistons, or buckets for pumps.

S. Parker, of Argyle-place, Westminster; for improvements in the copstruction of lamps,

A. A. M. Marbot, of Norfolk-street, Strand; for improved machinery for working or cutting wood into all kinds of mouldings, rebates, cornices, or any sort of fluted work. Communicated by a foreigner.

Sir W. Congreve, of Cecil-street, Strand, bart.; for a new motive power.

W. Stratton, of Limehouse; for an improved apparatus for heating air by means of steam.

J. G. Christ, of Bishopsgate-street; for improvements in copper and other plate printing. Communicated by a foreigner.

P. J. Heisch, of America-square, merchant; for improved machinery for spinning cotton. Communicated by a foreigner.

C. B. Coles, late of Duke-street, Manchester-square, and W. Nicholson, of Manchester; for a new method of constructing gasometers, or machines, or apparatus for holding and distribut ing gas for the purpose of illumination. Communicated by a foreigner.

W. Benecke, of Deptford; for a mas

chine for grinding or crushing seeds, and other oleaginous substances, for the purposes of extracting oil therefrom. Communicated by a foreigner.

W. Jefferies, of London-street, Radcliffe; for improvements in calcining or roasting, and smelting or extracting metals and semi-metals from various kinds of ores, and matter containing

metals or semi-metals.

P. Erard, of Marlborough-street; for improvements in the construction of piano-fortes, Communicated by a foreigner.

A. de la Garde, of St. James's-square; for a method of making paper of various descriptions from the pullen or ligneous parts, produced from certain textile plants, in the process of preparing the same textile plants by the rural mechanical brake (for the exclusive use of which he has already applied for a patent), and which substances are to he employed alone, or mixed with other suitable materials in the manufacture of papers. Communicated by a foreigner.

W. Smith, of Sheffield; for an improved method of manufacturing cutlery and other articles of hardware, by means of rollers.

J. F, Ledsam, of Birmingham; for an improvement for purifying coal gas by means not hitherto used for that purpose.

J. Lucas and H. Ewbank, of Mincinglane, London; for an improved process to be used in the dressing of paddy, or rough rice.

L. W. Wright, of Upper Kenningtonlane, Surrey; for improvements in the combination and arrangement of machinery for making metal screws.

B. Rotch, of Furnival's-inn, London; for a diagonal prop for transferring perpendicular to lateral pressure.

J. Stewart, of Store-street, Bedfordsquare; for improvements on pianofortes, and in the mode of stringing the

same.

J. Woodman, of Piccadilly; for an improvement in shaving and other brushes, which improvement is also applicable to other purposes.

J. Perkins, of Fleet-street; for improvements in the construction of steamengines.

A. F. Mornay, Putney Heath, Surrey; for improvements in preparing for smelting, and in smelting ores, and substances, containing metals. Partly communicated by a foreigner.

M. Bush, of Dalmonach Print Field, near Bonhill, by Dunbarton, North Britain, calico printer; for improvements in machinery for printing calico and other fabrics.

B. Wodcroft, of Manchester; for certain processes and apparatus for printing and preparing for manufacture, yarns of linen, cotton, silk, woollen, and other fibrous material.

H. A. Stothert of Bath, founder; for improvements on, or additions to, ploughs.

J. P. Reid, merchant and manufac. turer, Glasgow; for an improvement or improvements on power-looms for weaving cloth of various kinds.

J. Tilt, of Prospect Place, Southwark, Surrey, merchant; for improvements in the boilers used for making salt, commonly called salt pans, and in the mode of applying heat to the brine. Communicated by a foreigner.

E. Cowper, of Clapham Road Place, Lambeth, Surrey, gentleman; for improvements in printing music.

J. S. Broadwood, of Great Pulteneystreet, Westminster, pianoforte maker, for improvements in the grand pianofortes.

J. Whittaker, of Wardle, near Roch. dale; for improvements in machines, or machinery, for piecing cardings from woollen carding engines, and for drawing, stubbing, and spinning wool and

cotton.

Carlo Chigo, of Lyons, now residing in Fenchurch-street, London; for improvements in weaving machinery.

M. W. Lawrence, of Leman-street, Goodman's Fields; for improvements in the process of refining sugar.

J. A. Berrollas, of Great Waterloostreet, Lambeth; for a detached alarum watch.

R. Daws, of Margaret-street, Cavendish-square; for improvements in chairs, or machines calculated to increase ease and comfort.

T. Breidenbach, of Birmingham; for improvements in parts of bedsteads.

B. Somers, M. D. of Langford, Somersetshire; for improvements on furnaces for smelting different kinds of metals, ores, and slaggs.

W. Lockyer, of Bath; for an improveinent in the manufacture of brushes of certain descriptions, and in the manifacture of brushes, and other purposes.

H. Knight, of Birmingham, clockmaker; for a machine, apparatus, or

method, for ascertaining the attendance on duty of any watchman, workman, or other person, which is also applicable to other purposes.

J. M'Curdy, esq. of Cecil-street, Strand; for improvements in the process of rectification of spirits. Partly communicated by a foreigner.

J. Browne and W. D. Champion, of Bridgewater; for a composition which may be manufactured or moulded.

either into bricks, or into blocks, of any form for building, and also manufactured and moulded to, and made applicable for all internal or external ornaments, architectural purposes, and for various other purposes.

D. Bentley, of Eccles, Lancashire; for an improved carriage-wheel.

T. P. Coggin, of Wadworth, machinemaker; for a new or improved machine for the dibbling grain of every description.

W. J. H. Hood, of Arundel-street, Strand; for improvements on pumps, or machinery for raising or forcing water, chiefly applicable to ships.

G. Burges, of Bagnigge-wells, gent. ; for improvements in the construction of wheeled carriages, and of wheels to be attached to the carriages, or for other purposes.

T. Clarke, of Market-Harborough, Leicestershire; for improving the manufacture of carpets.

M. Muir, of Glasgow; for machinery for preparing boards for flooring and other similar purposes.

J. W. Clarke, of Tiverton; for an improved mode of attaching, fixing, or securing, the dead eyes to the channels and sides of ships or vessels.

J. C. Daniell, of Stoke, Wiltshire; for improvements in preparing wire cards, and dressing woollen and other cloths.

C. Philips, of Rochester, captain in the royal navy; for improvements on capstans.

H. Evans, of Great Surrey-street, and W. R. H. King, of Snow-hill; for new table apparatus, to promote the ease, comfort, and economy of persons at sea, or on nautical excursions.

T. Don, of Lower James- street, Golden-square, and A. Smith, of Wellstreet, Marylebone; for methods of making and constructing shutters and blinds of iron or steel, or any other metals or composition thereof, and improved methods of constructing and fixing shutters and blinds of iron or

steel, or any other metals or materials, and methods of uniting in shutters the double properties of shutters and blinds.

S. Robinson, of Leeds; for improvements in machinery for hackling or dressing and clearing hemp, flax, and tow.

L Dexter, of King's Arms Yard, Coleman-street; for improvements in machinery, for the purposes of spinning wool, cotton, and other fibrous substances, communicated to him by a foreigner.

H. Raper, esq., of Baker-street, Marylebone; for a new and improved system of signals; first, for communicating by day, by the means of flags and pendants, between ships at sea, or other objects, far distant from each other, in which system the colours of the flags and pendants which have heretofore served to distinguish the signals one from another, and which by distance, or other causes, are extremely subject to be mistaken, may be dispensed with altogether; and, secondly, for communicating by night between ships at sea, and other objects, far distant from each other, by the means of lights, and which system of signals is more conspicuous, expeditious, and certain, than any which has hitherto been employed for the like purpose.

J. Marshall, Chatham, Kent; for improvements in mounting guns or cannon, for sea or other service.

J. Felton, of Hinckley, Leicestershire; for a machine, for an expeditious and correct mode of giving a fine edge to knives, razors, scissors, and other cutting instruments.

T. Fuller, of Bath, Somersetshire for improvements on wheel carriages. W. Hancock, of Stratford, Essex; for improvements upon steam-engines.

W. Wilson, of Martin's-lane, London; for the means or principle of extracting spirits and other solvents, used in dissolving or rendering malleable gums of various kinds, and other articles employed for stiffening hats, hat bodies, bonnets, caps, and divers articles of merchandizes, and converting such spirit (after rectification) into use.

R. F. Jenar, of Bunhill-row, for improvements in lamps.

G. Poulton, of Stafford-street, Old Bond-street; for an instrument, machine, or apparatus, for writing, which he denominates a self-supplying pen.

T.Sowerby, of Change-alley, Corn-hill; for improvements in the construction of ship's windlasses.