* * * * *

While the Bell-Rock lighthouse was in progress, Mr. Stevenson was often struck with the frequent and distressing occurrence of shipwrecks at the Carr Rock. The Carr forms the seaward termination of a reef of sunken rocks which appear at low water, extending about a mile and three quarters from the shore of Fifeness, on the northern side of the entrance of the Frith of Forth. The very dangerous position of this rock, as a turning point in the navigation of the northern-bound shipping of the Frith, required that this rock, in connection with the several lighthouses of the Bell Rock, Isle of May, and Inchkeith, should be made as easily distinguishable to the mariner as possible. In the course of nine years no fewer than sixteen vessels had been either lost or stranded on the Carr Rocks. Therefore, in 1809, moorings were laid down for a floating buoy, 'but owing to the heavy swell of sea and the rocky sand-stone bottom on this part of the coast, it was found hardly possible to prevent the buoy from occasionally drifting, even although it had been attached to part of the great chain made from bar-iron an inch and a half square, with which the Bell-Rock floating-light had been moored for upwards of four years without injury. The moorings of the Carr Rock buoy, from the continual rubbing upon the sand-stone bottom, were worn through with the friction in the course of ten months; and during the four years which it rode here, though regularly examined and replaced in the proper season of the year, it was no less than five times adrift, to the great inconvenience and hazard of shipping.'

Such being the case, it was resolved, however difficult and perilous the undertaking, to erect a beacon of masonry upon the rock. The length of the Carr Rock, from north to south, measures seventy-five feet, but its greatest breadth, as seen at low-water of spring-tides, is only twenty-three feet; hence it was not possible to obtain a base for a building of greater diameter than eighteen feet. The surface of the rock was also so rugged that it was necessary to excavate part of the foundation-pit of the building to the depth of seven feet. The difficulties were still further increased on account of the foundation being partly under the level of the lowest tides, so that a coffer-dam was required. It was further necessary, after each tide's work, to remove and carry ashore part of this coffer-dam; so that on the return of the workmen at ebb-tide much time was lost in readjusting the coffer-dam, and in pumping the water out of the foundation-pit.

Some idea may be formed of the difficulties attending the early stages of this work, from the fact that during the whole of the first season, or summer of 1813, the workmen could not command more than forty-one hours' work upon the rock; during the second season the time was only fifty-three hours. These two years were entirely occupied in excavating and preparing the foundation, and in laying ten stones, or the half course of masonry, which brought the foundation to a uniform level for the first entire course of the building. Mr. Stevenson contrasts this slow progress with that made at the Bell Rock during the first two seasons. Although this building was situated twelve miles from the shore, three courses were erected, the diameter of the base being forty-two feet, besides the erection of a beacon-house or barrack for the workmen. 'The establishment for the works at the Bell Rock was of course on a much larger scale than that of the Carr Rock; but still the latter was equally effective, and the same apparatus, artificers, and seamen, were employed at both.'

During the third year's work, the second course of the masonry was completed upon the Carr; and nine stones of the third course were laid by the 3rd of October, when a heavy ground-swell obliged the workmen precipitately to leave the rock and take to their boats. Before the cement was fixed, the surge of the sea had washed it out; the oaken trenails were wrenched off, and the whole of the nine blocks of stone swept off the rock and lost in deep water, though they had been completely dove-tailed and fitted on the same principles as the masonry of the Bell-Rock lighthouse, where not a single stone was lost during the whole progress of the work.

During the fourth season, the operations were retarded by several untoward accidents. The wind and the waves sometimes destroyed in a moment the labour of weeks; but by dint of skill and untiring patience and industry, they succeeded by the month of November in completing the sixteenth course, which raised the building to the height of about twenty feet.

The fifth year was particularly unfortunate. The whole of the masonry having been completed, the coast was visited in November with a gale of wind, accompanied with a heavy swell of sea, which washed down the upper part of the building, and reduced it to the height of the fifth course, which formed part of the fourth year's work. It was therefore determined to modify the original design of the work. Instead of completing this beacon with masonry, and providing the machine and large bell, which was to have measured five feet across the mouth, to be tolled by the alternate rise and fall of the tide, it was now determined to erect six columns of cast iron upon the remaining courses of masonry, to terminate in a cast iron ball of the diameter of three feet, formed in ribs, elevated about twenty-five feet above the medium level of the sea. This beacon was completed in September 1821.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 5: Lines written by Sir Walter Scott in the Album of the Bell-Rock Lighthouse, when he visited it in 1814.]



CHAPTER VIII.

LIGHTHOUSES ON SAND AND CAST-IRON LIGHTHOUSES.

Floating Lights—Objections to—Mitchell's Screw-moorings— Experiments on the Maplin Sand—Foundation—Erection of Screw-pile Lighthouse—Details of the Wyre Lighthouse—Proposed Lighthouse on the Goodwin Sands—Metallic Lighthouses—Advantages of Metal over Stone—Details of Cast-iron Lighthouse at Morant Point, Jamaica.

Those dangerous approaches to a coast which, from the nature of the soil, have not till very lately admitted of the erection of a permanent lighthouse, are usually indicated to the navigator by floating lights; but these being nothing more than large lanterns suspended in the rigging of a vessel, necessarily possess but feeble illuminating power. This power is still further diminished in a gale of wind, when it is most wanted, by the pitching and floundering about of the vessel: every now and then she is submerged in the trough of the sea, covered with spray and drift, or, what is most to be dreaded, she is liable to be blown away from her moorings; an accident which has been productive of the most disastrous consequences to life and property.

The details already given will convey some notion of the difficulty and danger of planting a lighthouse on the solid rock in a stormy sea; we may naturally suppose that this difficulty and danger must be enormously increased in erecting a permanent residence on the shifting sands. Such, however, is by no means the case; one of the recent triumphs of engineering has proved that it is not always folly to build a house upon the sand.

This remarkable result has been accomplished chiefly by means of Mitchell's screw-mooring, an instrument which consists essentially of an enormous cast-iron screw of about one turn and a half, having a hollow cylindrical centre; a wrought-iron spindle passes through the cylindrical socket; it is somewhat tapering in form, and when driven up tight is fixed thereto by a forelock passing through both; it is formed with a square head to receive the key for screwing it into the ground. It is also furnished with a collar of wrought iron fitted so as to turn freely on the upper part of the shaft of the spindle below the collar.

The attention of the Trinity House having been called to this instrument, it was considered applicable to the establishment of lighthouses on sands; and accordingly a series of experiments was undertaken at the cost of that honourable body. The spot selected for the purpose was on the verge of the Maplin Sand lying at the mouth of the Thames, about twenty miles below the Nore, forming the north side of the Swin or King's Channel, which, on account of its depth, is much frequented by large ships, as also by colliers and other vessels from the north sea. The sand is shifting, and is dry at low water spring-tides, and hitherto a floating light has been maintained upon it. On this spot it was proposed to erect a fixed lighthouse of timber framing, with a lantern and residence for the attendants.

In the month of August 1838, operations were commenced by inserting nine of Mitchell's patent mooring-screws, each four feet and a half in diameter, and furnished with shafts of wrought iron about twenty-five feet in length and five inches thick. One of these screws served as a centre to the remainder, which occupied the angles of an octagon forty-two feet in diameter. The screws were turned into the sands to the depth of twenty-one feet and a half, the upper extremities being left standing about five feet above the surface of the sands. For the purpose of fixing the screws, a stage or raft of timber, thirty feet square, was floated over the spot, with a capstan in the centre, which was made to fit on the top of the iron shaft, and firmly keyed to it. A power of about thirty men was employed for driving the screws, and their labours were continued until their united force could scarcely turn the capstan. This stage or raft, which had been formed in two thicknesses crossing each other at right angles, and bolted at their intersection, was, as a precautionary measure, allowed to remain. It covered the whole site within the piles, and also extended some distance beyond them. A curb about eighteen inches high was raised round this stage; on its surface was arranged a quantity of brushwood, and then about two hundred tons of rough stone, which sunk the stage into the sand and prevented it from being displaced. Between the spaces of the stage and the brushwood the sand was allowed to wash its way, and it soon filled the interstices of the stone. The whole mass soon became embedded below the surface of the sand, and gave considerable lateral support to the piles, and formed a solid body for the water to wash upon.

In this state the whole was allowed to remain for about two years, during which time every change in the surface of the sand was observed, and although early in the year 1839 violent storms occurred, yet the screw-piles stood firmly, and the sand at no time was lowered more than three feet. In August 1840 the raft was found to have completely settled down, the piles were as firm as if they had been screwed into clay; a lighthouse was therefore erected within the short space of three months; and on the 16th February, 1841, a dioptric fixed light was exhibited off this dangerous spot, and was visible ten miles off in all directions.

But while the preparatory steps for this lighthouse were being taken, a screw-pile lighthouse was begun and completed at Port Fleetwood on the Wyre, near Lancaster; which being the first of the kind ever constructed, deserves particular notice.

The preparatory stages were of a similar nature to those already described. The foundation was formed of seven screw-piles, six occupying the angles of a hexagon forty-six feet in diameter, and the seventh being placed in the centre. From each screw proceeded a pile fifteen feet in length, at the upper end of which was another screw for securing a wooden column. These columns were prepared of Baltic timber; the one in the centre was fifty-six feet, and each of the remainder forty-six feet in length, bound firmly round with iron hoops and coated with pitch.

The framing upon which the house stands is firmly secured round the centre column and to the heads of the outer columns by means of hollow cast-iron capitals let down over the heads of the columns and secured with screw-bolts. To give lateral strength to the building, round iron angle-braces were applied, by which means a resisting power equal to at least three hundred and fifty tons is presented in every direction.

The platform upon which the house stands is twenty-seven feet in diameter. The dwelling-house is twenty feet in diameter, and nine feet high: it has an outside door, and three windows, and is divided into two apartments, one having a fire-place; the floor is tiled, and the walls and ceiling lathed and stuccoed. Access to the platform is secured by means of a Jacob's ladder of wrought iron secured to one of the columns: access to the lantern is by a winding stair within the house.

From the summit of the house rises the lantern; it is twelve-sided, ten feet in diameter, and eight feet high. The light is thus elevated about forty-six feet above low-water level. It is of the dioptric kind, and is bright, steady, and uniform, ranging over an horizon of eight miles, and visible at the distance of ten miles from a coaster's deck. During foggy weather a bell is tolled by machinery. Tide-time for vessels of twelve feet draft is also denoted by signals. Signals put out by vessels requiring a Wyre pilot will also be understood at this lighthouse, where corresponding signals are hoisted until the pilot is provided.

This admirable and useful structure was erected in two of the shortest day months of the year, in which time day-light did not occur at any low-water period; the workmen therefore had to depend on torches and moonlight. Nor is the portability of this form of building its least advantage: should there occur any local changes which might threaten the safety of the house, it can be taken down, and erected in another site within a month.

Perhaps one of the boldest schemes ever devised for lighthouses was the structure proposed to be erected by Mr. Bush, on a plan patented by him, on the Goodwin Sands, or on the Varne in the channel between Folkestone and Cape Grisnez, in four fathoms water. This plan, was recommended to the consideration of parliament by several merchants, ship-owners, and other influential persons. The building proposed to be called 'The Light of all Nations,' was to consist of a Doric column one hundred and twenty-five feet high supporting a lantern twelve feet in diameter, surmounted by a colossal statue of the Queen, her sceptre being the point of a lightning-conductor. This column was to rise from a base one hundred feet in height, and fifty in diameter, to be formed by a caisson composed of cast-iron plates bolted together: the part under water was to be divided into four pyramidal chambers, opening into and supporting one another; the lower one resting on the rock beneath the sands, and the whole forming a conical core to the cylindrical base. The only part of this plan that was executed was the cast-iron caisson, which was deposited in its place among the sands. In this situation, during one dark and stormy night, it was struck by a ship and shivered to a thousand fragments. This untoward accident has led to the abandonment of the design.

One of the characteristics of this country is the mode in which we lay out the mineral wealth which nature has bestowed upon us so liberally in the shape of coal and iron. With the assistance of the former we mould the latter into a thousand shapes of usefulness, neatness, and durability, and so much attached are we to this material, that it is daily superseding the use of the more cumbrous wood and stone, and other substances which were once in great demand. Iron furnishes most of the multifarious instruments required in the mechanical and agricultural arts—it ministers alike to war and to peace, by furnishing the sword and the ploughshare. It supplies some of the most useful domestic apparatus for the kitchen, the parlour, and the bed-room, and now even the bedstead itself may be formed of iron. It has been long used in some of our great public works: we have iron roads—iron bridges—iron statues—steam-boats of iron—houses of iron, and lastly, iron lighthouses.

The suggestion of metallic lighthouses originated a few years ago with Captain Sir Samuel Brown, when it was proposed to place a lighthouse on the Wolf Rock near Land's End, a position where it would be exposed to the most violent storms of the Atlantic. A plan for the erection of a stone lighthouse on this point had already been drawn up by Mr. Stevenson, which plan, Captain Brown thinks would require fifteen years for its execution, and cost one hundred and fifty thousand pounds. Captain Brown undertook to erect one of bronze ninety feet high for fifteen thousand pounds, and to complete it in four months. This plan, from whatever cause, was not entertained, and with the exception of a small lighthouse erected on the Gravesend pier, metallic lighthouses excited no attention until the year 1840, when application was made to Mr. Alexander Gordon, the eminent engineer, by the commissioners appointed by the House of Assembly, in the island of Jamaica, to light a dangerous point in that island, called Morant Point, for the erection of a suitable lighthouse at the smallest possible cost. On this occasion Mr. Gordon proposed the erection of a cast-iron structure, resembling in outline that of the Celtic towers of Ireland. His plans and estimates having been accepted, they were executed with remarkable celerity; and from an account furnished by Mr. A. R. Renton, (the manager of the factory at which the work for the lighthouse was done,) we derive most of the following particulars.

The advantage which iron, when not in contact with sea-water, possesses over stone or other materials, is that upon a given base a much larger internal capacity for dwellings and stories can be obtained, with equal stability. With this material plates can be cast in large surfaces, and with but few joints. A system of bonding the plates may also be adopted, which will ensure the perfect combination of every part, so as to form an entire mass, and thus the best form for strength and stability can easily be obtained. From the comparatively small bulk and weight of the component parts of the structure great facilities are afforded for transporting and erecting it. Thus, in less than three months from the date of the contract, the lighthouse about to be described was cast and erected on the contractor's premises, and it was expected to have the light exhibited in Jamaica in three months more. The whole expense was said not to exceed one-third the cost of a similar building in stone.

The structure was to be founded on a coral rock a little above the level of the sea; the face of the rock is about ten feet below the surface of the sand, and was to be excavated to receive the base of the tower, resting on and cased with granite, to prevent the natural filtration of the sea-water from acting upon the iron. This course of granite is grooved to receive the flange of the lower plates of the tower, from which lightning-conductors are to be continued to the sea. The tower is of course itself a lightning-conductor of the best kind. The diameter of the tower-shaft is eighteen feet six inches at its base, diminishing to eleven feet under the cap; it is formed of nine tiers of plates each ten feet in height, varying from one to three quarters of an inch thick. The circumference is formed of eleven plates at the base, and nine at the top: they are cast with a flange all round the inner edges; and when put together these flanges form the joints, which are fastened together with nut and screw-bolts, and caulked with iron cement. The cap consists of ten radiating plates, which form the floor of the light-room; they are screwed to the tower upon twenty pierced brackets, and are finished by an iron railing. The lower portion, namely, twenty-seven feet, is filled up with masonry and concrete, weighing about three hundred tons, and so connected with the rock itself as to form a solid core of resistance. The remaining portion of the building is divided into store-rooms and berths for the attendants in the lighthouse.

The light-room consists of cast-iron plates five feet high, on which are fixed metal sash-bars filled with plate-glass; these, terminating with a point, are covered with a copper roof, whence rises a short lightning-rod, trebly gilt at the point. The light is of the revolving kind, consisting of fifteen Argand lamps and reflectors, five in each side of an equilateral triangle, and so placed as to constitute a continuous light, but with periodical flashes. The Admiralty notice which announced the light for exhibition on the 1st November, 1842, states that the centre of the light is ninety-six feet above the level of the sea, and in clear weather the light can be seen from a distance of twenty-one miles.

To preserve as low a temperature as the circumstances and climate will permit, the iron shell was lined with a non-conducting material, as slate or wood, leaving an annular interstice, through which a constant ventilation is effected, so as to carry off the excessive heat.

To preserve the two lower tiers from rusting, they are coated with coal-tar. The tower itself is painted white. The only brasing which has been thought necessary is a few cross tiers at each horizontal joint, over which the iron-tongued wood-floors are laid.

The several rooms are provided with fire apertures, fitted with oak sashes filled with plate-glass. The approach to the doorway, which is about ten feet above the level of the sand, is by means of stone-steps; ladder-irons are also provided in the event of the stone-steps being carried away by a hurricane.

Over the entrance is a large tablet of iron supported by two smaller ones; and on them, on bas-relief, are inscribed the date of erection (1842), the names of the commissioners, of the engineer, founder, &c.

The whole of the castings were executed at the foundry (late Bramah and Robinson's) at Pimlico, and put together in the yard of the manufactory, prior to their removal to Jamaica, where the work was re-erected by a derrick and crab from the inside, without the aid of any external scaffolding.

It is said that the whole expense of the lighthouse, including the passage over the Atlantic, did not exceed seven thousand pounds, and that the entire weight of the iron-work is about one hundred tons. The masonry was also prepared in this country, which (from the absence of building-stone in Jamaica) was found to be more economical than if the work had been done on the spot. Mr. Grove, as clerk of the works, and two labouring engineers, who had attended to the execution of the work in England, were sent out for the purpose of erecting the lighthouse, and the necessary apparatus upon the site which had been selected. The elevation of the lighthouse above the level of the sea is one hundred and three feet.

Since the completion of this lighthouse, Mr. Gordon has been employed by the Ordnance Office to furnish designs and specifications for a tower on the same principle, but of larger dimensions and improved details, which is to be erected on Gibbs' Hill, in the island of Bermuda.



CHAPTER IX.

THE LIGHTHOUSE SYSTEM.

Imperfect Illumination of the old Lighthouses—First Improvements—The Argand Lamp and Reflecting Mirrors—Revolving Lights—The Catoptric System—Varieties of Lights—The Dioptric System—Its Details—Introduction of this Method into Great Britain—Comparison of the two Methods—The Drummond and Voltaic Lights—Gurney's Lamp—Captain Basil Hall's Experiments—Ventilation of Lighthouses.

Since there is something more or less common in the modes of lighting and in the general economy of all lighthouses, a general view of the subject is likely to prove of more interest than particular details.

In consequence of the rotundity of the earth, the distance at which a beacon light ceases to be visible depends upon its elevation. The height to which a lighthouse may be carried is a simple question of expense. The greater part of the pharos of the Romans were much higher than the most celebrated modern towers. Yet, as it respects optical effect, the feeble rays which were diffused from the wood or coal-fires at their summits, could never have traversed the thick fogs which in all climates occasionally overspread the lower regions of the atmosphere.

Nevertheless, as to the strength of the light, the modern lighthouses were, until lately, little superior to the ancient. At the time of the erection of the Eddystone lighthouse civil engineering was greatly in advance of practical optics. That noble structure was lighted by tallow candles, without reflectors or the aid of any kind of apparatus for concentrating the light. 'For more than half a century this feeble light was all that directed the mariner in the very high-road of commerce.' So late as the year 1811 it was lighted with twenty-four wax candles. In 1812 the Lizard lighthouse, certainly one of the most important in the kingdom, was maintained with coal-fires. The Bidstone, a leading light to the port of Liverpool, was furnished with an enormous spout lamp, with a wick twelve inches in width, the smoke from which was so great as to completely darken the upper surface of its reflector. The first important improvement was the introduction of that admirable invention the Argand Lamp, with a double stream of air. Four or five of these lamps would doubtless give as much light as the large fires kept by the Romans; but if those lamps are furnished with reflecting mirrors, the luminous effect is prodigiously increased.

The light of inflamed bodies spreads itself equally in all directions. One portion is absorbed by the ground, another is dissipated in space. The navigator, whose route we are anxious to enlighten, profits only by the rays that proceed in a horizontal direction, or nearly so, from the lamp to the sea. But such of the horizontal rays as are directed towards the land are of course entirely lost to the purposes of the lighthouse. This zone of horizontal rays forms not only a very small portion of the total light, but has also the serious inconvenience of becoming much weaker by divergence, so as to convey to a distance but a very feeble light. To destroy this divergence, and to profit by all the light of the lamp, was the task to be accomplished, before lighthouses could be rendered useful to the full extent.

The application to this purpose of deep metallic mirrors, known under the name of parabolic mirrors, has been found effectual to the purposes required. When a lamp is placed in the focus of such a mirror, all the rays which emanate from it are reflected from the polished surface, and converge in one direction: their original divergence is destroyed, and they form, as they issue from the apparatus, a cylinder of light, parallel with the axis of the mirror. This light would be transmitted with undiminished brilliancy to a great distance, did not the atmosphere absorb a portion of it.

It must, however, be admitted, that this method is not free from defect. It is true, we direct towards the horizon of the sea, a vast number of rays, which would have been lost upon the ground, in space, or landward; we also destroy the primitive divergence of those rays which fall within the range of the seaman; but the cylinder of reflected light is of no greater size than that of the mirror; the zone which it illuminates has precisely the same dimensions, at whatever distance, and, unless we employ a number of similar reflectors differently inclined, there will be a number of large spaces in the horizon completely obscure, from which the pilot will never see any signal whatever. This serious objection has been removed by imparting, by means of clock-work, a uniform rotatory motion to the reflector. The collection of rays proceeding from the mirror is thus directed to all the points of the horizon in succession. Every vessel perceives the signal-light during one instant, and immediately after it is seen to disappear; and if, in a great extent of coast, the different lights revolve in different times, the various signals become thus individualized. According to the interval of time, which elapses between two successive appearances or eclipses of the light, does the sailor recognize the part of the coast which is in view: he is thus no longer liable to mistake a planet, or a star of the first magnitude, at its rising or setting, or a fire lighted on the coast by fishermen, charcoal-burners, &c. for the light of the lighthouse; mistakes, which have often led to the most deplorable wrecks.

The reflectors originally employed were casts in plaster of Paris, from a mould formed to the parabolic curve, and lined with facets of mirror-glass. The power of these reflectors, however, was comparatively small, from the reflecting surface being composed of numerous pieces, in each of which only one point coincided with the curve of the parabola.

The Trinity House having been at great pains to improve the reflecting apparatus on the coast of England, with the advice and assistance of eminent scientific men, adopted parabolic reflectors made of silvered copper; and these, from their superior effects, have ultimately been introduced into all the lighthouses of the united kingdom. In the northern lighthouses, the reflectors consist of copper coated with silver, in the proportion of six ounces of silver to one pound avoirdupois of copper, which are rolled together, and then, with much labour and great nicety, by a process of hammering and polishing, formed to the parabolic curve of a mould made with mathematical precision. The focal distance of the curve is four inches. The diagram for the Bell-Rock reflectors was drawn by Professor Leslie, and the mould was made by Mr. Adie the optician. The powers of this elegant production of the mechanical art are said to be quite astonishing; and by comparing its highly-polished and regularly-curved surface with the previous glass reflector, the superiority of the former seems to be immense: indeed, its influence extends to the horizon formed by the height of the lighthouse-tower and the earth's curvature. The reflectors in general use measure over the tips twenty-one inches as applicable to stationary, and twenty-live inches for revolving lights.

The Catoptric or reflecting system was first adopted under the direction of Borda, at the Corduan Lighthouse, probably about the year 1780. The system was soon introduced into England; and one of the first acts of the Northern Lights' Board, so early as 1786, was to substitute reflectors in place of coast-lights, which till then had been the only beacons on the Scotch coast.

In the improved lights the best spermaceti oil and the Argand lamp have been introduced. The keepers are professionally adepts in the management of lamps; and should a drop of oil be spilt, the floor is covered with painted floorcloth to receive it. The Argand lamp-burners are tipped with silver, to prevent the waste and imperfection to which copper is subject, from the excessive heat of the burner.

In appearance the lights may be classed as stationary, revolving, flashing, and intermittent. In the first, as its name implies, the light has a steady and uniform appearance, and the reflectors, which are smaller than those used for revolving lights, are ranged in circular zones upon a chandelier or piece of iron frame-work, with their axes inclined at such an angle as shall enable them to illuminate every part of the horizon. The revolving light consists of a frame built upon a perpendicular shaft, and the reflectors, which are of large size, are ranged on perpendicular planes or faces, which are made to revolve in periodic times, by means of a train of machinery kept in motion by a weight. When one of those illuminated planes or faces is brought towards the eye of the observer, the light gradually increases to full strength: when, on the contrary, the angle between two of these faces comes round, the observer is in darkness. By these alternate changes, the characteristic of the lighthouse is as distinctly marked to the eye of the mariner as the opposite extremes of light and darkness can make it. The flashing light is a modification of the revolving light, and is practically a beautiful example of the infinite celerity of the passage of light. The reflectors are here also ranged upon a frame, with faces which are made to revolve with considerable rapidity; and the light thus emerging from a partial state of darkness exhibits a momentary flash, resembling a star of the first magnitude, and thereby produces a very striking effect. The intermittent light bursts suddenly into view, like a star of the first magnitude, and continues a stationary light a minute and a half, when it is as suddenly eclipsed for half a minute; and by this simple arrangement a strongly marked distinction in the lights of the coast is introduced. This is accomplished by the perpendicular motion of shades before the lights. A variety of all these lights is introduced by interposing before the reflectors plates of red glass, which produce the beautiful red light alluded to in the lines of Sir Walter Scott, when he notices the 'ruddy gem of changeful light.' The red and white light is caused by the revolution of a frame on the sides of which the lights are placed alternately, with and without coloured media. There are varieties in this kind of light, some being so arranged that two white lights should be seen in succession, and then one red; and others, that two red should be seen, and then one white. When there is a necessity for what is called a leading-line, as a guide for taking some channel, or avoiding some danger, double lights are exhibited from two towers, one of which is higher than the other; and when seen in one line, these form a direction for the course of the shipping.

When the French were recovering from the long night of terror, during which their commerce had been ruined and their ships disabled, they directed attention to lighthouses, and resolved to discard the very imperfect and insignificant reflectors then in use. They investigated the subject with their usual scientific skill, and the result was the invention and adoption of the system of lenses instead of reflectors, known as the Dioptric system.

A transparent lens reduces to parallelism all the luminous rays which traverse it, whatever be their original amount of divergence, provided these rays proceed from a point or focus suitably situated. The substitution of glass lenses for reflectors is not a new idea, since we find that a proposal to that effect was made by a London optician to Mr. Smeaton, in 1759, for illuminating the Eddystone lighthouse, but was not adopted by him. M. Fresnel mentions that lenses had been used in England so far back as 1789, in the tower light-room at Portland Island, but from some cause or other were discontinued.

On account of the great loss of light by reflexion at the surface of mirrors, the French adopted the lenses, and they soon discovered the source of failure in our use of them; they saw that, in order to render lenses superior to reflectors, the intensity of the illuminating flame must be considerably increased, as well as the size of the lenses; also, that these lenses must have a very short focus; and that, if constructed by the ordinary rules, their thickness would be great, their transparency diminished, and their weight far too great for the safety of the machinery whereby the lights were revolved. Fresnel therefore adopted the ingenious device proposed by Condorcet, that of constructing a lens of a number of distinct pieces. This method was also proposed by Dr. Brewster, in 1811. Fresnel also invented a lamp, with a number of concentric wicks, the lustre of which was twenty-five times greater than the best lamps then existing.

In a lighthouse on the dioptric system, the lantern is constructed with eight sides, which form an octagonal prism around the lamp in the centre. The centre of each side is occupied by a plano-convex lens, something similar to a burning-glass, having a diameter of about fifteen inches. This central lens is not sufficient to cover the entire side. Indeed, a lens of sufficient size for the purpose would be very costly and bulky, even supposing it could be manufactured. To remedy this defect, the central lens is surrounded by a series of glass rings, the external surface of which is so formed as to have precisely the same optical effect as the great central lens. A transverse section of one of these zones or rings presents the form of a wedge, one side of which is slightly curved.

By this arrangement each lens transmits to all the points of the horizon in succession a light equivalent to that of from three to four thousand lamps with double currents, and eight times greater than the light produced by the silver parabolic reflectors; it is, according to Arago, the same amount of light as would be obtained if it were possible to bring together the third of the whole number of gas-lights which illumine the streets, the shops, and the theatres of Paris; and this wonderful result is obtained from a single lamp.

This lamp has four concentric burners, which are defended from the action of the excessive heat produced by their united flames, by means of a superabundant supply of oil, which is thrown up from the cistern below by a clock-work movement, and constantly overflows the wicks. A very tall chimney is necessary in order to supply fresh currents of air to each wick with sufficient rapidity to support the combustion. The carbonization of the wicks is not very rapid; and after they have been burning a long time, the flame is not sensibly diminished, as the great heat evolved from the mass of flame promotes the rising of the oil in the cotton.

In the year 1820, in the course of some investigations connected with the Trigonometrical Survey of Great Britain, and conducted by a deputation of scientific persons from London and Paris, M. Fresnel exhibited from the French side of the channel, by means of his lens and a large lamp, a powerful light which was observed by the English across the channel. The brilliancy of this light so struck Lieut.-Col. Colby, of the Royal Engineers, who was engaged in these observations, that he immediately corresponded with Mr. Stevenson as to its probable use upon the Scottish coast. A considerable time was occupied in inquiry and negotiation, when at length, on the 26th October, 1836, the light at the Isle of May was changed from the catoptric to the dioptric system, and a committee of the Royal Society of Edinburgh met at Dunbar, a distance of thirteen miles from the lighthouse, to make observations on the two lights, which were exhibited in contrast. In their report they conclude:—

'1. That at a distance of thirteen miles the mean effect of the new light is very much superior to the mean effect of the old light (perhaps in the ratio of two to one). 2. That at all distances the new light has a prodigious superiority to the old, from the equality of its effects in all azimuths. 3. That the new light fulfils rigorously the conditions required for the distribution of light to the greatest advantage. 4. That at distances much exceeding thirteen miles, the new light must still be a very effective one, though to what extent the committee have not observed. The light is understood to be still a good one, when seen from Edinburgh at a distance of about thirty miles.'

On a further comparison of results, it was found that the light of one of the great annular lenses, used in the revolving lights of the first order, was equal to the united effect of about eight of the large reflectors employed in the revolving lights on the Scottish coast. At the Isle of May and Inchkeith the quantity of sperm-oil consumed by the great lamp is equal to that burned by fourteen of the Argand lamps used in the Scotch lights. Hence by dioptric means the consumption of oil necessary for the fourteen reflectors will produce almost as powerful a light as that which would require the oil of twenty-four reflectors in the catoptric system, and consequently there is an excess of oil equal to that consumed by ten reflectors, or four hundred gallons in the year against the Scotch system.

The Dutch were the first to adopt Fresnel's system. In the year 1834 the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses sent Mr. Alan Stevenson to Paris to inspect the system, and his report was so favourable, that the reflecting apparatus of the revolving light at Inchkeith was removed, and the dioptric instruments substituted. The new light was exhibited on the evening of the 1st of October, 1835, and so great was the satisfaction afforded, that a similar change was made at the fixed light of the Isle of May. The Trinity-House of London followed next in adopting the improved system, and a revolving dioptric light of the first order was erected at the Star Point in Devonshire.

In the lighthouses of this country sperm-oil is the most usual fuel. In France[6] an oil is burned called Colza oil, expressed from the seeds of a species of wild cabbage. In the lighthouses on the Mediterranean olive-oil is used. In a few lighthouses near large towns coal-gas has been advantageously adopted. Much also has been said in favour of the Drummond and Voltaic lights, which, on account of their prodigious intensity would appear to be most desirable; but the uncertainty which attends their exhibition renders it at present impossible to adopt them: but there is a yet more fatal objection—the smallness of the flame renders them wholly inapplicable to dioptric instruments, which require a great body of flame in order to produce a degree of divergency sufficient to render the duration of the flash in revolving lights long enough to answer the purpose of the mariner.

In the year 1835, Mr. Gurney proposed a lamp of great power in which the flame of oil or wax was sustained by streams of oxygen gas, a method said to be more economical than the combustion of oil in atmospheric air. The Trinity House entertained the proposal, and instituted a number of experiments. In applying this light to reflectors it is intended to use three small flames, each about three-eighths of an inch in diameter, productive, it is said, of an effect equal to that of ten Argand lamps. But for lenses the burner has seventeen films of flame, and is said to possess six times the power of the Fresnel lamp.

In the year 1840, Captain Basil Hall instituted a series of experiments to ascertain whether the well-known superior brilliancy of a revolving light could not be obtained for a fixed or continuous light, that is, for one equally visible in all directions at the same moment. His idea was, that by giving a certain velocity of revolution to a series of lenses round a fixed light, as in Fresnel's arrangement, a continuity of illuminative power, equal almost in brilliancy to that of a slowly revolving light, might be produced. The apparatus was arranged so as to cause a series of eight lenses one foot in diameter and three feet focal distance to revolve with any velocity up to sixty revolutions per minute round a central lamp. The light from this lamp being concentrated by refraction through the eight lenses into eight pencils, having a divergence of about eight degrees each, illuminated when at rest not quite fifty degrees of the horizon; but when this system of lenses was put into rapid motion, every degree of the three hundred and sixty degrees of the horizon became illuminated, so that to spectators placed all round the horizon the light would appear continuous and equally brilliant in every direction. The only question would be, whether or not this continuous light is essentially less intense than the light seen through the lenses at intervals when in slow motion; and this is a point which further inquiry must decide.

One of the causes which has tended to improve the brilliancy of lighthouses, has produced inconveniences, which long existed without remedy. During the combustion of a pound of oil, the union of its hydrogen with the oxygen of the air produces more than a pound of water in the state of vapour. When a cold wind is blowing upon the lantern of the lighthouse from without, this vapour is condensed into water upon the inner surface of the glass, and in very severe weather forms a crust of ice, in some cases, as much as four inches thick in the course of one night. This not only very much dims the brilliancy of the light to the sailor, but also entails a great amount of labour on the light-keepers, and injury to the lantern. The combustion of the oil also produces a large quantity of carbonic acid gas, which is of a very deleterious nature, and in many cases rendered the light-keepers' rooms almost uninhabitable. Under these circumstances, the Trinity House made application to Dr. Faraday to investigate the subject, with a view to the discovery of some remedy. With his usual skill and sagacity, Dr. Faraday instituted a number of inquiries and experiments, and visited some of the principal lighthouses. The result was the contrivance of a complete method of ventilating lighthouses. On the dioptric system, the remedy was simple: it was merely to erect a tall chimney over the central lamp, and lead it out at the roof; by which means, the draught of the lamp was improved, and all the products of combustion carried off. On the catoptric system, with revolving lights, each lamp was furnished with a chimney, which passed out at its upper extremity, through a small hole in the reflector into a fixed central hollow shaft, which served the purpose of a ventilating chimney to all the lamps. These plans are said to have been eminently successful in removing the inconveniences, which rendered the light less efficient, and the lighthouse an unwholesome and even dangerouse place of abode.

[Footnote 6: In the year 1836 the coast of France were provided with no less than ninety-six lighthouses.]

THE END.



Parker's Collections in Popular Literature.

Collections in Popular Literature, publishing by John W. Parker, West Strand, London.

It has frequently been suggested to the Publisher, that he might render an acceptable service to the friends of Education, and greatly assist those who desire to promote the intellectual amusement of the people, by producing a series of Popular Books, at low prices, calculated, by their unexceptionable tendency, for general use in families; from which School Libraries might be formed, Reward Books selected, and Lending Libraries supplied; which, on account of their convenient form and size, would be welcome as Fireside and Travelling Companions; books, in short, which might be found instructive and entertaining wherever introduced.

These suggestions he is now carrying out, in compliance with certain conditions, namely, that the works produced shall be unexceptionable in subject and in treatment; that the series be sufficiently varied to meet the requirements of all classes of readers; and that each book shall be complete in itself, and procurable for a very small sum.

The COLLECTIONS IN POPULAR LITERATURE will, therefore, embrace most of the features of an Encyclopaedia, though the subjects will not be divided into fragments, or scattered over many volumes; each subject being treated with fulness and completeness, and its information brought up to the present time.

The Plan will embrace new and improved Editions of certain Standard English books, but the majority of the works will be newly written, translated, compiled, or abridged, for the present purpose; and the volumes will appear from time to time in sufficient variety to extend simultaneously, and in due proportion, the various branches of Popular Literature. The whole will be prepared with an especial view to the diffusion of sound opinions—to the promulgation of valuable facts and correct principles—and to the due indulgence of general literary taste.

It is not intended that this series shall form a periodical, according to the strict acceptation of that term. Several works are already published, and others will quickly follow; they will all be uniformly bound in cloth and lettered. There will be no necessary connection between the various works, except as regards general appearance, and each, being complete in itself, may be had separately; nevertheless, the volumes, distinct, yet uniform in their object, will together form a valuable library, and may be collected and classified under the following heads:

I. Popular History.

Under the comprehensive title of History, we purpose giving an extensive series of interesting and instructive works. Among these will be carefully-considered narratives of some of those moral tempests which have so often agitated the world, when men have continued a long course of disobedience to the laws of God and the recognised laws of man. We shall make it our business to record the change of a dynasty, the rise and career of a monarch, a usurper, or a ruler, whose actions have thrown a new aspect on the political institutions of a country; we shall trace the rise and progress of great commercial or manufacturing enterprises, whereby the wealth and prosperity of a nation have been obviously increased; we shall notice the train of events whereby the prevalent or established religion of a country has been changed. These and other subjects of a like character will enable us to bring up many stores from a mine peculiarly rich in instructive and entertaining matter.

It is of course impossible, in such a notice as this, to include all the features of so important a division of our COLLECTIONS IN POPULAR LITERATURE as History; but some idea may be formed of it from the following list of works which are nearly ready for publication:

A History of the Invasion of Russia by Napoleon Bonaparte; its Causes and Consequences. 2s. 6d.

The Lord and his Vassal: a Familiar Exposition of the Feudal System in the Middle Ages; with its Causes and Consequences.

A History of the French Revolution; its Causes and Consequences. Newly written for this Collection.

The Ruins of Rome and their Historical Associations; including an Account of the Modern City and its Inhabitants.

The Private Life, Manners, and Customs of the Ancient Romans. From the French of D'Arnay; carefully edited, and forming a valuable work for study or amusement.

Constantinople and its Historical Associations; with some Account of its Institutions and the Manners and Customs of the People.

History of the Rise and Progress of the Trading Communities of the Middle Ages.

Trading Communities of Modern Times; a Popular View of the Origin, Structure, and General Tendency of the Joint-Stock Trading and Commercial Bodies of Modern Times.

The Ruins of Athens and their Historical Associations; with Notices of the Modern City and its Inhabitants.

A History of London, Ancient and Modern.

A History of the Endowed Schools of Great Britain.

The Incas of Peru, with some Account of the Ruins of their Greatness.

A popular History of the British Army.

A popular History of the British Navy.

II. Popular Biography.

One of the most useful and pleasing forms under which knowledge can be presented to the general reader is that of the Biography of distinguished men, who have contributed to the progress of that knowledge in some one or other of its various departments. But it too frequently happens, that the biographical notices of great men consist rather of personal, trivial, and unimportant details, than of a clear and broad outline of the influence which they exerted upon the pursuit and upon the age in which they were distinguished. The true object of Biography is, while tracing the progress of an individual, to show not only what result his active life has produced on the well-being of his fellow-men, but also the position which he occupies as one of the "great landmarks in the map of human nature."

Yet we are not satisfied with a biography which regards its subject in his public capacity alone: we are naturally curious to ascertain whether the same qualities which rendered him celebrated in public, followed him likewise into private life, and distinguished him there. We regard with interest, in his private capacity, the man who has been the originator of much public good: we look with an attentive eye on his behaviour when he stands alone, when his native impulses are under no external excitement; when he is, in fact, "in the undress of one who has retired from the stage on which he felt he had a part to sustain."

But a detail of the public and private events in the life of a distinguished man, do not alone suffice to form a just estimate of his character. The reader requires to be made acquainted with the state of a particular branch of knowledge, at the time when the individual appeared, whose efforts extended its boundaries. Without this it is impossible to estimate the worth of the man, or the blessings and advantages conferred upon society by his means.

On the other hand, in tracing the history of any particular branch of knowledge, unless connected with Biography, we lose sight of individual efforts; they are mingled with the labours of others, or are absorbed into the history of the whole, and are consequently no longer individualized: hence we are likely to fail in recognising the obligations due to our distinguished countrymen, or to deprive of their just merit those of our foreign brethren, whose useful lives have influenced distant lands as well as their own.

With these views it is proposed that each Biography shall consist of three distinct portions:

1 The history of a particular department of knowledge, up to the time when the individual appeared by whom its boundaries were extended.

2 A general sketch of the life of such individual, with particular details of the improvements effected by him.

3 The progress of such branch of knowledge, from the date of such improvements up to our own times.

The following subjects will be immediately published:

Smeaton and Lighthouses.

Sir Joseph Banks and the Royal Society.

Sir Humphrey Davy and the Safety Lamp.

Linnaeus and Jussieu; or, the Rise and Progress of Systematic Botany.

Cuvier and his Works; or the Rise and Progress of Zoology.

Brindley and Canals.

Watt and the Steam-engine.

Wedgwood and Pottery.

Telford and Roads and Bridges.

Caxton and the Printing Press.

Galileo and the Telescope.

Sir Isaac Newton and the Progress of Astronomical Discovery.

Sir Christopher Wren and St. Paul's Cathedral.

Addison and the English Essayists.

Jeremy Taylor and some Account of his Times and Works.

Wilberforce and the Slave Trade.

Each work being a Popular Biography, with an Historical Introduction and Sequel.

III. Popular Science and Art.

When we contemplate the arts and processes of civilized life, we cannot but be struck with the vast amount of invention and ingenuity required for their gradual development. Not an article of clothing or of furniture, not an instrument, implement, or machine, could have been brought to the state in which we find it, without many successive steps of invention, due to different minds, supplied at different times, and brought to light in different countries. But in devoting several of our volumes to the Useful Arts, we shall not be unmindful of the fact, that Art is the application of Science to a practical end. It is proposed, therefore, under the comprehensive title of Popular Science and Art, to include portions of our knowledge of animate and inanimate nature. The object will be to assist the general reader to regard with an intelligent eye the varied phenomena of nature, to gratify the laudable desire of understanding what he sees, and of preparing him in some measure to enter more fully upon the study of a given subject. In this way, it is hoped to effect a useful purpose, by connecting Science and the Useful Arts; for "it is not, surely, in the country of Arkwright, that the Philosophy of Commerce can be thought independent of Mechanics; and where Davy has delivered lectures on Agriculture, it would be folly to say that the most philosophic views of Chemistry were not conducive to the making our valleys laugh with corn."

The works already prepared, or in course of preparation, for this division, comprise the following subjects:

The Useful Arts employed in the Production of Food. 2s. 6d.

The Useful Arts employed in the Production of Clothing. 2s. 6d.

The Useful Arts employed in the Construction of Dwelling Houses.

The Writing-Desk and its Contents, taken as a Text for the Familiar Illustration of many important Facts in Experimental Science. 2s.

Examples of Mechanical Ingenuity.

The Philosophy of the External Senses.

Ancient and Modern Modes of Measuring Time, with curious Illustrations of the application of Clockwork.

The Rise and Progress of Agriculture.

The Natural History of Birds and Insects injurious to Farming and Gardening.

The Wonders of the Microscope.

Mathematical Magic.

The Fine Arts will also form an interesting portion of this division. The object will be, in a few popular histories, to trace the origin, rise, and progress of Sculpture, Painting, Engraving, Music, &c., and their influence on mankind.

IV. Popular Voyages and Travels.

Few subjects are more attractive than the narratives of celebrated travellers. Although they tell us of beings who speak another tongue, inhabit a different clime, differ altogether from ourselves in manners, customs, dress, and institutions—yet the sympathy which man feels for his fellows makes us delight in all the details which talent and enterprise procure for us. The personal narrative of the traveller has also a great charm; we seem to participate in his dangers, excitements, and pleasures; we add to our knowledge in his company; and the truth and sincerity which pervade the narrative, make us feel a personal interest in the narrator. It is intended to reprint some of the narratives of our old English Navigators, especially those of Discoveries, which have had most influence on the progress of Geographical Knowledge. It will not be an objection that these eminent men lived at a period of time distant from our own; for their Narratives are full of truths, told with plain simplicity.

But the important labours of modern travellers will not be forgotten. In describing several interesting portions of the earth's surface, we shall avail ourselves of the most trustworthy individuals, and by a careful comparison of statements and details, we hope to present graphic descriptions of some of the most celebrated countries of the world; as well as of those which have only of late years been explored. Many voyages of discovery have had their proceedings recorded in large quartos, the price of which places them above the reach of the general reader, while their scientific details render them unfit for popular use: a digest of these works, containing an epitome of the lighter portions, and the results of the scientific discoveries, may prove acceptable.

The following works are being prepared for publication:

The Life, Adventures, and Discoveries of Captain William Dampier; including a History of the Buccaneers of America.

Captain Cook and the Circumnavigation of the Globe.

An Overland Journey and a Steam Voyage to India.

Voyages and Discoveries in the South Polar Regions.

Voyages and Discoveries in the Northern Polar Regions.

Voyages and Discoveries in Australasia and Polynesia.

To these will be added digests of Travels and Adventures in various Countries of the Old and New Worlds.

V. Popular Tales and Fiction.

The design of this Collection embraces many favourite old works, which, though containing much that has instructed and delighted our predecessors, are, nevertheless, but ill adapted in their original form for general perusal. Among these may be reckoned some works of fiction, the excellencies of which are often obscured by a grossness of style not uncommon at the time when they were composed, but which justly excludes them from family-reading in the present day. Such works would be acceptable if freed from objectionable passages; and in undertaking to accomplish this reform, without detriment to the spirit of the original, the Publisher relies on the approbation of a large class of persons, who will thus be enabled to place in the hands of the young, purified editions of those romantic and interesting tales which are naturally sought for by youthful readers, whose hands they might otherwise reach, tainted with their original impurities. Every work will be prepared for this series by a careful editing, in order to suit the general tone of thought, principle, and feeling which will pervade the whole Collection, and no work will be admitted, the name of whose author is associated with considerations painful to Christian feeling, good taste, or propriety.

Among the new works intended to be included in this division, may be mentioned a series of tales, illustrative of the manners and customs of the people of different climes. Of these, the following, among others, are ready for early publication:

Norah Toole, a Tale of Ireland; My Son Mike, or, the Irish Emigrant in the United States; and Rob Maxwell, a Tale of the Highlands of Scotland.

The Spanish Merchant and his Daughter, or, Life in Spain; a Tale illustrative of Domestic Manners and Customs.

Van-ti, or, Life in China; The Leicesters, or, Life in Hindostan.

The Merchant and the Friar; or, Truths and Fictions of the Middle Ages. A New Edition, revised by the Author.

The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins, a Cornish Man. Carefully revised and corrected.

The most Delectable History of Reynard the Fox; an old Romance, thoroughly revised and corrected.

The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, newly revised; with a new Introduction, and Illustrations.

VI. Popular Miscellanies.

Under this head will be published, works of a miscellaneous nature which do not fall strictly under any of the foregoing divisions, or which may include several of those divisions. Among the former may be mentioned a short series of works on in-door and out-door amusements, the object of which is to furnish young persons with sources of amusement, innocent in their kind, and healthful in their application both to mind and body. Among the in-door amusements may be mentioned a volume which is nearly ready for publication on the game of Chess. Experience has shown that where Chess is introduced as an amusement into families and schools, it exerts a highly beneficial influence, by exciting a taste for more exalted sources of recreation than are afforded by games of chance, which so far from producing a beneficial influence on the mind, are apt to disturb the temper, excite animosity, and foster a spirit of gambling. Chess, on the contrary, is an effort of pure skill; it gives healthy exercise to the mental powers; it requires caution and forbearance on the part of both players; it leaves the victor satisfied with having won the game without the additional stimulus of 'a stake;' and it entails no humiliation on the vanquished, but rather prompts him to greater exertions. We propose, therefore, to give the history and antiquities of the game of Chess, together with a series of Easy Lessons, the object of which will be to make the young student acquainted with a few of the leading features of the principal openings, that he may form some idea of the richness of the territory of Chess, and to add a selection of Chess Problems. Chess Problems form one of the most attractive departments of the game; they enable us, more perhaps than anything else, to appreciate the subtle skill and resources of a first-rate player, and tend to elevate Chess to the rank of mathematical science.

Among the works which include several of the foregoing divisions, is one in four volumes, illustrating the Progress of the Year, wherein the information given is arranged under the form of Daily Headings. All the varied phenomena of nature; the animals, the plants, the minerals, assume different phases, according to the means and acquirements of the observer, the progress of science, and the climate under which the descriptions are given. As science advances, the descriptions of naturalists admit of modification and addition, in order to keep pace with the progress of discovery; hence our Year-books require renewal from time to time. The present is an attempt to furnish a seasonal account of the natural phenomena of the year, in conformity with the present state of knowledge. The work, however, will not be confined to natural history, but will be varied with notices of the arts, antiquities, manners and customs of our native country; choice selections from our prose writers and poets; and a series of papers expressly adapted for Sunday reading, so that on whatever day, and at whatever season, the book be taken up, something appropriate of an instructive and amusing nature may be found, calculated either for family reading, or solitary perusal, as a fireside manual, or a travelling pocket companion.

The following works are intended for early publication:

Chronicles of the Seasons, or the Progress of the Year; being a Course of Daily Instruction and Amusement from the Popular Details of the Natural History, Science, Art, Antiquities, and Biography of our Father Land. In Four Books. Book the First, containing the Months of January, February, and March. 3s. 6d.

The History, Antiquities, and Curiosities of the Game of Chess; including a Selection of Games, illustrative of the Various Openings, Analyzed and Explained for the use of Young Players; together with a Choice Selection of Chess Problems.

The Sea—the Highway of the World; or the History and Practice of Navigation, in Ancient and Modern Times, familiarly explained.

The Houses of all Nations; or some Account, Historical and Descriptive, of the Progress of National and Domestic Architecture in all Parts and Ages of the World.

The Games and Sports of the Ancients and Moderns.

An Account of Shipwrecks, Fires, and other Calamities, at Sea.

THE END