London, Paris, Canada, and the United States, placed between twenty and thirty large engines in competition, to test their powers for the satisfaction of one of the juries.

A few words must be said concerning the steam fire-engine. This was first employed at a fire at the Argyll Rooms, in London, in 1830, and displayed great power in throwing the water against the building. The furnace and boiler of this engine were similar to those of the 'Novelty,' a locomotive engine constructed by the same engineer for railway traffic. The pipe by which the water was jetted turned on a swivel, by which means the stream could be directed to any quarter. The cylinders were placed horizontally, and the steam-piston was connected with the water-pump plunger by a rod working through two stuffing boxes. This engine, the total weight of which did not exceed 45 cwt., consumed 3 bushels of coals in 5 hours, by which expenditure it was enabled to throw out from 30 to 40 tons of water per hour, which it propelled to a height of upwards of 80 feet, and on one occasion to 90 feet. Another engine, on the same construction, by Mr. Braithwaite, possessed 10-horse power (the former being about 6), and ejected the enormous quantity of 90 tons of water per hour. In 1832 a steam fire-engine was made for the king of Prussia by the same engineer, in which the steam could be got up in 20 minutes to a pressure of 70lbs. on the square inch. This engine ejected the water through a pipe 14 inch in diameter to the height of 115 or 120 feet: the number of strokes of the piston was 18 per minute, and the body of water ejected about 1 ton in that time. The power of steam was likewise applied to a floating fire-engine by Mr. Braithwaite, the machinery of which is so constructed, that the power of the engine can be at once changed from propelling the vessel to working the pumps, and thus do double duty. The London Fire Brigade Committee have recently turned their attention to this subject. Their first attempt was to alter a floating fire-engine which had been worked by manual power; and this was so well done, that the engine poured out 700 gallons per minute under a pressure of 70 or 80 lb. on the square inch. Another was thereupon constructed capable of throwing 1400 gallons per minute, and of moving at the rate of eight miles an hour, when pro- | pelled by the reaction of two jets 10 inches in diameter, driven by one of Appold's pumps. The vessel built for these engines is 130 feet long, with pumps and engines placed on the starboard and larboard sides of the midships. At Cincinnati large steam fire-engines have Leen for some years used; and the good service they render partly induced the London companies to revive and improve upon the old invention of Braithwaite. Competition trials of steam fire-engines have taken place in New York; one of them is said, at an extensive fire, to have poured out 15,000 barrels of water in 8 hours. Messrs. Shand and Mason have recently produced a new steam fire-engine in London, for use on land.

FIRE-ESCAPE. Numerous contrivances have been brought under public notice from time to time for saving the lives of persons who may be in a building while it is burning. Mr. Maseres devised a kind of chair of straps, by which a person could lower himself from a window. Mr. Davis, in 1809, proposed the use of three ladders, which might draw out like a telescope, and might reach from the ground to the upper windows of a house. Mr. Young, in 1813, contrived a sort of rope-ladder, with iron rounds of very flexible construction. Mr. Braby, in 1816, invented a sort of long pole, down which a car or chair might travel from a window to the ground. Mr. Witty, in 1820, introduced a sort of bag or case, which may be lowered from the sill of a window by ropes governed by a person seated in the bag. About 1835, Mr. Ford recommended the use of a long pole, at the upper end of which is tackle for lowering persons from a window; and soon after, Mr. Merryweather contrived a series of short ladders, which fit on to each other end to end, and can be elevated to a considerable height quickly.

But the fire-escape which has come most into use in London is a wheel-carriage supporting a lofty canvas shoot or trunk, attached to a ladder or frame; when placed up against a house, a person can get into this trunk from a window, and slide safely down to the bottom, with the aid of some ingenious mechanism attached to the frame. Many such machines are kept in public places in London during the night, attended by men whose business it is to wheel the machines to any spot where life is endangered by fire, and to work the machines. A Report was presented to the city corporation in 1840 from the police commissioners, descriptive of thirty plans for fire-escapes, which had been proposed by different parties. They were of three classes :— 1st. Machines intended for domestic use only, to be resorted to by inmates of houses in cases of fire; 2nd. Machines to be used from the outside, and made to combine the security of property with the protection of persons; 3rd. Machines exclusively for the protection of life from fire, to be used out of doors under the responsible direction of the police. Among the thirty were Davis's effective but rather ponderous machine; Wivell's, with the canvas trunk; and Gregory's sliding ladders on a carriage. It was considered that, whichever may be the best form in wide thoroughfares, the common fire-ladders carried with the engines of the London Brigade are the most generally useful in courts and confined situations. A suggestion was made in 1858, that it would be a good plan if in every house was kept a strong board with a hand-rail, and a hook at each end; by hanging one end outside the window of a burning house, and the other to the window of

an adjoining house, a temporary bridge or balcony might be formed. Independent of other difficulties, however, there would always be the uncertainty of such a contrivance being in the right place at the right time. Another suggestion has been made, that each street or group of houses should possess a wire basket; that there should be a bracket fixed at the top of every house-front, projecting two feet; and that the police should be provided with some kind of rocket to send a rope over the bracket, and thereby haul up the basket. A third suggestion, of recent date, is that of Mr. Meakin; he proposes to fix two wire-ropes to strong hooks in the front wall of a house, to raise a kind of cradle on these ropes by means of pulleys, and then to govern the descent of the same cradle by the same ropes and pulleys.

None of the modern suggestions, however, as remarked above, are regarded as of equal value with the long ladder and canvas bag, used by the Society for the Protection of Life from Fire. The services rendered by this society can best be shown in reference to the nature and extent of London fires. Mr. Fothergill, of the Westminster Insurance Office, read a paper before the Institute of Actuaries in 1857, in which he presented a tabular view of all the London fires for twenty-four years, from 1833 to 1856. His object was to ascertain, if possible, the relative intensities of the causes of fire in each particular trade or occupation; with a view of rendering the return of annual fires by the London Fire Brigade Establishment in some way useful to the office-inspectors and surveyors of risks. His labours were much thwarted by the fact that two-thirds of all fires are attributed to "causes unknown." In those 24 years there had been 17,816 fires in London, or 742 per year on an average, or about 2 per day. Of these, in about 4 per cent. the premises were "totally destroyed;" 30 per cent. "much damaged;" and 66 per cent. "slightly damaged." Among the assigned causes of the accidents, some of the most peculiar were thawing water-pipes "- -"bottle of whiskey burst"sealing a letter "-" frying fish"-and "hunting bugs." The extent of the insurance principle may be illustrated in reference to the year 1856, when there were 1115 fires in London; of these, 318 had the buildings and contents insured, 106 the buildings only insured, 344 the contents only insured, and 347 wholly uninsured.

The society above named has provided fire-escapes in various parts of the metropolis. The operations first commenced in 1836, since which time fire-escapes have been established in new districts every year. There are now upwards of 70, situated about half-a-mile apart, each attended throughout the night by a conductor. Of the total number of fires (1114) in 1858, more than 500 were attended by the society's fire-escapes, and 57 lives saved by their means. At one of these fires one man saved no fewer than 9 lives. In the preceding year (1857) the society's men saved 73 lives; and in the whole period of operations 497,-a useful work for a society resting on no other basis than that of private subscriptions. The society has published the following description of the fire-escape employed, with sundry improvements lately introduced: "The main ladder reaches from 30 to 35 feet, and can instantly be applied to most second-door windows by means of the carriage-lever. The upper ladder folds over the main ladder, and is raised easily into position by a rope attached to its leverirons on either side of the main ladder; or, as recently adopted in one or two of the escapes, by an arrangement of pulleys in lieu of the leverirons. The short ladder, for first-floors, fits in under the carriage, and is of the greatest service. Under the whole length of the main ladder is a canvas trough or bagging made of stout sail-cloth, protected by an outer trough of copper-wire net, leaving sufficient room between for the yielding of the canvas in a person's descent. The addition of the copperwire is a great improvement; as, although not affording an entire protection against the canvas failing, it in most cases avails, and prevents the possibility of any one falling through. The soaking of the canvas in alum and other solutions is also attended to; but this, while preventing its flaming, cannot remove the risk of accident from the fire charring the canvas. The available height of these escapes is about 45 feet; but some of them carry a short supplementary ladder, which can be readily fixed at the top, and which increases the length to 50 feet."

FIRE, GREEK, an invention of the middle ages which was often employed in the wars of the Christians and Saracens. This subject has given rise to much inquiry and excited much discussion; the obscurity by which it is enveloped has been greatly increased by many causes, and especially by the love of the marvellous.

According to Gibbon the deliverance of Constantinople in the sieges of the 7th and 8th centuries "may be chiefly ascribed to the novelty, the terrors, and the real efficacy of the Greek fire. The important secret of compounding and directing this artificial flame was imported by Callinicus, a native of Heliopolis in Syria, who deserted from the service of the caliph to that of the emperor."

It is justly observed by Gibbon (Dec. and Fall, ch .52), that "the historian who presumes to analyse this extraordinary composition should suspect his own ignorance and that of his Byzantine guides, so prone to the marvellous, so careless, and in this instance so jealous of the truth. From their obscure and perhaps fallacious hints, it should seem that the principal ingredient of the Greek fire was naphtha, or liquid bitumen, a light, tenacious, and inflammable oil which springs from the earth, and catches fire as soon as it comes in contact with the air. The naphtha was mingled, I know not by

water which is so profusely used on the occasions referred to. The sudden contractions produced by the application of cold water cause even granites themselves, about the most infusible of building materials, to fly, as workmen say, or to crack; and the same danger exists wherever metals are employed, even in a greater degree than when the less rapidly conducting materials are used.

It follows, from these considerations, that the security offered by any system of fireproof constructions must depend greatly upon the extent of the conflagration which may take place in them. As a fireproof building ought to be without any communication with surrounding buildings, and to have very small openings to the air in the majority of cases, it really acts in the manner of a retort upon the goods which may happen to be in combustion in its interior. It therefore is essential that the cubical capacity of any isolated incombustible compartment or building should not be large enough to allow a fire to take place which should be able to destroy the physical properties of the building materials employed; and it is to the neglect of this simple precaution that we may attribute the fact that whenever a fire does take place amongst the goods stored in incombustible buildings, the destruction of the goods themselves is entire, and that the stability of the building is so likely to be compromised. Some goods, such as cotton, wool, &c., are liable to spontaneous combustion; and if such goods should be stored in large quantities in one building, the security afforded by the supposed fireproof character of the materials of the latter will too often be found to be fallacious. Some of the most destructive fires have actually taken place in fireproof buildings; and nothing can be more striking than to observe the unaccountable changes of form produced in the iron, stone, or brick, exposed to the action of to be far more injuriously affected in these cases than wrought iron, especially when it is likely to be suddenly chilled by the cold water pumped upon the burning goods. Wrought iron, however, loses its elasticity when heated, and is exposed to change its form under the action of loads it would otherwise have easily supported.

what method or in what proportion, with sulphur and with the pitch that is extracted from evergreen firs." One of the properties here stated to belong to naphtha is well known to be, and indeed is, obviously incorrectly ascribed to it; if it were spontaneously inflammable it could not even be collected, and of course could not be mixed with the other ingredients which are named. Whatever may have been the precise nature of the mixture, the account of its effects, from which somewhat of the marvellous must be deducted, is thus strikingly portrayed by Gibbon: "From this mixture, which produced a thick smoke and a loud explosion, proceeded a fierce and obstinate flame, which not only rose in perpendicular ascent, but likewise burnt with equal vehemence in descent or lateral progress; instead of being extinguished, it was nourished and quickened by the element of water; and sand, urine, or vinegar were the only remedies that could damp the fury of this powerful agent, which was justly denominated by the Greeks the liquid or the maritime fire. For the annoyance of the enemy, it was employed with equal effect by sea and by land, in battles or in sieges. It was either poured from the ramparts in large boilers, or launched in red-hot balls of stone and iron, or darted in arrows and javelins, twisted round with flax and tow which had deeply imbibed the inflammable oil. Sometimes it was deposited in fire-ships, the victims and instruments of a more ample revenge, and was most commonly blown through long tubes of copper, which were planted on the prow of a galley, and fancifully shaped into the mouths of savage monsters, that seemed to vomit a stream of liquid and consuming fire." According to Gibbon, the secret of the Greek fire was confined above 400 years to the Romans of the east; it was at length either discovered or stolen by the Mohammedans, and in the holy wars of Syria and Egypt they retorted an invention contrived against them-large masses of incandescent materials thus enclosed. Cast iron appears selves on the heads of the Christians. The feu Grégeois, as it is styled by the more early of the French writers, is thus described by Joinville: "It came flying through the air, like a winged long-tailed dragon, about the thickness of a hogshead, with a report of thunder and the velocity of lightning; and the darkness of the night was dispelled by this deadly illumination." The use of Greek fire was continued to the middle of the 14th century, when the more efficient employment of gunpowder was substituted. When Ypres was besieged by the Bishop of Norwich in 1383, the garrison defended itself with Greek fire. In a curious paper on the subject of Greek fire by the late Dr. MacCulloch (Royal Inst. Journal,' vol. xiv.), he remarks that very different things were known by one name; and he supposes the various projectile means and combustibles employed to have been essentially different. FIREPROOF CONSTRUCTION. A building is said to be fireproof, when it is constructed of incombustible materials; but it is essential to observe, that the danger arising from fire cannot be obviated entirely, even by the most theoretically or practically incombustible construction; and that consequently it is necessary, not only to observe the ordinary precautions against the destruction by fire of goods kept in such buildings, but also to guard against the effects of extraordinary heat upon the really incombustible materials of which the buildings themselves are formed. In the following notice, therefore, a description will be given of the materials which are the most fitted for the erection of fireproof buildings; and attention will subsidiarily be called to the danger and inconveniences to which they are exposed in actual practice. The conditions required to be fulfilled by the materials to be employed in the erection of fireproof buildings are, that they should not only be unable to burn under the action of ordinary heat; but that they should also be, as far as possible, non-conductors of heat; that they should not expand or contract in a marked degree under the influence of changes of temperature, and that they should neither be exposed to fuse, nor to undergo chemical decomposition, when submitted to the action of fire. Of course all woods are excluded from the class of incombustible materials; but it must be evident, from the enumeration of the conditions those materials are required to fulfil, that the plasters, cements, limes, some varieties of bricks, and stones, cannot safely be trusted when they are likely to be exposed to great heats; and that the metals are equally objectionable, because they not only transmit heat readily and alter greatly in their dimensions, but also because sudden and great changes of temperature affect their powers of resistance, and even occasionally cause them to change their form entirely. The plasters and limes used in building owe their strength to the molecular adhesion originally produced by the solidification which takes place in the course of their hydration, and is subsequently increased by the gradual absorption of carbonic or sulphuric acid gas from the atmosphere. A very low temperature, comparatively, will suffice to destroy this state of combination, and to drive off both the gases and the water of crystallisation to such an extent as to destroy the cohesion of the inass. It is for this reason that the French plaster floors, or the English concrete floors (whether made with a lime or a cement base), are not able to resist the effects of great fires, although they may be sufficient to render ordinary dwellings practically fireproof; and for the same reason, brick vaulting itself is not entirely to be relied upon, when the area it covers is great, and there may be large quantities of combustible materials stored beneath it. Of the building stones, it would appear that the sandstones are more adapted for the purposes of fireproof construction than the limestones, because the latter become calcined under great heats; nevertheless, both limestones and sandstones are injuriously affected, both by the fire and by the

These remarks apply especially to warehouses; but in ordinary house or shop construction it rarely happens that a sufficient quantity of goods is contained in any one compartment of the building to entail any extraordinary danger. If, therefore, the walls of such houses be built of good brick or stone; if iron be used instead of wood for girders, lintels, bressummers, &c.; if the roof be entirely of metal, and the floors of either brick-work, tiles in cement, stone landings, or of plaster or concrete; the houses will be, for all practical purposes, fireproof. These materials are, however, all of them good conductors of heat; and, as such, they require, in dwellings, to be covered with wood, or some other material which should be able to obviate the unpleasant feeling produced by their being exposed. The danger of the combustion of such woodwork may be materially diminished by the application of a soluble glass to all the exposed surfaces; and care should be taken that none of the wood runs so far into the solid walls as to affect their stability, either in consequence of its being burnt out, or on account of the chemical changes produced by the heat. The resinous woods being more rapidly inflammable than oak, or the harder woods, such as mahogany, teak, rosewood, &c., are less fitted for the purposes of lining fireproof structures than are the latter; and it is perhaps on account of the general use of oak floors in Paris that so few fires occur in that town, in comparison with those which occur in London, where fir floors are almost exclusively used. It may be added, that one of the greatest sources of danger in ordinary house building arises from the use of wooden staircases, which serve to conduct the fire from one floor to another. As a general rule, moreover, it will be found that the thickness of party walls which is requisite to ensure the statical stability of a building will be sufficient to prevent the communication of any ordinary fire from one house to another: provided always that no timbers be allowed to be inserted in such walls, or at least that solid non-combustible materials of at least nine inches in thickness shall always be placed between the ends of the timbers thus let in. Great care should be taken, when artificial methods of warming are adopted, to isolate the timbers or joiners' work from the pipes or passages by which the heat is distributed; for the effect of the proximity of wood-work to such heat passages is to dessicate the wood thoroughly, and to render it highly inflammable. The same remark would of course apply, mutatis mutandis, to the combustion of gas near woodwork; and it is desirable in all these cases that a sufficient nonconducting cushion of air should be, as it were, interposed between the source of heat and the wood-work.

FIREPROOFING. In this article we shall briefly describe three modes of shielding combustible articles from the ravages of fire, under the sub-headings Fireproof Repositories, Fireproof Woodwork, and Fireproof Textile Goods.

Fireproof Repositories.-By this we do not mean houses or buildings, rendered fireproof by peculiar modes of construction; these are treated in another article. [FIREPROOF BUILDINGS.] We speak of iron chambers, coffers, or boxes, for containing valuable property. It was not until the present century that such receptacles were regularly and systematically made. A few may have been constructed as special examples of ingenuity; but the manufacture had not yet become a regular branch of trade. The old treasure receptacles were oak chests, secured by one or more locks, or brick or stone closets, with wooden

and others who may avail themselves of these advantages; and to have
in each building separate strong rooms for any persons wishing to have
the exclusive use of them; and also other places for depositing deeds,
securities, plate, &c., on the responsibility and under the guardianship
of the managers." It is supposed, according to this suggestion, that an
adequate rental would willingly be paid for such fireproof strongholds.
Fireproof Woodwork.-In the article ANNIHILATOR, FIRE, a descrip-
tion is given of a mode of extinguishing fire by means of chlorate of
potash mixed with sugar-not used as a liquid to protect woodwork,
but as a gas which stifles the flame. We have now to notice a process
which has recently occupied much attention. Many liquids have been
A mere coating of lime-wash will do something towards this end; and
a wash or cream of clay in water will act nearly in the same way. In
Maugham's patent process, dry wood is saturated with an aqueous
solution of phosphate of soda and muriate or sulphate of ammonia;
the theory or expectation being, that a decomposition will ensue,
followed by an evolution of ammoniacal vapour, and the formation of
an incombustible coating on the surface of the wood. Jackson's patent
consists in the application of a solution of salts of zinc and ammonia.
Salomon's patent consists in a peculiar application of two solutions to
the surface of wood; the first consisting of sulphate of alumina, glue,
and water; and the second of chloride of calcium, glue, and water.
The substance which is now attracting most notice, in connection with
this subject, is silicate of soda. Mr. Abel, chemist to the War Depart-
ment, and Mr. Hay, chemist to the Admiralty, made experiments on this
salt in 1857. A wooden hut, similar in construction to those at Alder-
shott Camp, was set up at Woolwich Marshes. The immediate purpose
in view was to test Phillips' Fire Annihilator; but advantage was also
taken of the opportunity to try the efficacy of the silicate of soda as a
protector. The officers of the Royal Engineers suggested that if a part
of the hut were thus treated, the result might afford materials for
comparison. This was done. One portion of the hut was painted
inside and out with a mixture of lime and alum; this was not found
to act as a sufficient protector against fire. Another portion was then
painted inside and out, three times, with a solution of silicate of soda.
Unfortunately for the fairness of the experiment, the building was
constructed with a double boarding; so that it was only possible to
coat or impregnate each plank on one side. Nevertheless, the value of
the silicate was established beyond a doubt. A large heap of shavings
was lighted in the interior of the hut, against the coated portion of the
woodwork. The flame played fiercely against the timber for some
minutes, but only succeeded in kindling the edge of one plank; and
even that did not blaze, but only smouldered for a short time. By the
heat of the fire the salt was drawn to the surface of the wood, and
fused, forming a glaze upon it. Subsequently, when the whole hut
was destroyed by fire, after unsuccessful attempts to extinguish it by
the annihilator, although the fierceness of the flame was such that few
materials could have withstood it, yet several planks remained of the
exterior coated portion. Upon examining these planks, the unpro
tected surfaces were found to be completely charred; but this charring
had extended only to those parts which had not been touched by the
silicate. So far as experiments have yet gone, this salt appears to be
the most convenient and effective known for the purpose.

doors studded with nails, and fastened by locks, or staples and padlocks. The crown jewels of Scotland were placed in a strong oak chest in the year 1707; it had three locks, and when required to be opened in presence of a body of royal commissioners in 1818, it had to be forced, on account of the loss of the key or keys. Iron coffers of elaborate construction were known on the Continent before being common in England, possibly on account of the system of hoarding treasure, more customary in countries where commercial enterprise is languid. Wolverhampton, Birmingham, and Coalbrook Dale began the manufacture of cast-iron safes; London alone made those of wrought iron till 1835, since which year they have been made also in the north. These safes, however, were not in the first instance put forth as fire-devised from time to time, for making wood more or less fireproof. proof; there was nothing to prevent them, when red-hot, from burning the papers and charring the parchments inclosed in them. It was in 1834 that the fireproof principle appears to have been first adopted, under Marr's patent. Since that date, Bramah, Chubb, Milner, Hobbs, Price, Tann, and other manufacturers have brought great ingenuity to bear on this subject. There are several requisites for a good fireproof safe. The iron should be of such a thickness as to prevent the safe from being broken open by violence, or injured by a fall or other casualty during a fire. The door should be so closely fitted that no forcing instrument could be introduced between its edge and the framework into which it closes. The iron plates should be so prepared as to resist the action of drills, whether made for the purpose of taking out the small lock or of inserting gunpowder to shatter it. The large lock should be so made that, even if holes were drilled through the door, no space would be found inside the case to contain sufficient gunpowder to explode it. The case containing the lock should fit the interior of the safe as tightly as possible, to exclude the external heat in case of fire and the escape of the moisture from the fire-resisting composition within. The inside case, forming chambers for containing the fireresisting substance, should fit the inside of the body tightly, to prevent the undue escape of the vapour when in a fire; this case, also, should be so secured to the outer frame that no violence exerted on the door would force the removal of the lining or casing. The fire-resisting composition should be of such a nature and should be so placed as not to exert any injurious effect upon the iron when heated. It need hardly be added, that the large lock which closes the door, and the small lock which secures the bolt, should be free from liability to disarrangement, likely to wear well, and not easily picked. All the modern fireproof safes contain a sort of lining of fireproof composition, which has a remarkable effect in arresting the progress of heat from without inwards. Of course no safe could resist an unlimited heat for an unlimited time; but the modern makers are very successful in manufacturing safes which will preserve their contents unharmed during the destruction by fire of the building in which the safe is placed. There is an absorbent substance, such as sand or sawdust, and there are small vessels containing some kind of liquid; the heat from an external fire, acting on the liquid through the iron, bursts the vessels, saturates the absorbent substance, and greatly retards the heating of the interior. Some of the safes are painted on the inside with a peculiar composition, to prevent the metal from being oxidised or corroded by the action of acids employed to produce the moisture; and the exterior of the iron is case-hardened, or rendered like steel, to enable it to resist the action of drilling-intruments. Triple thicknesses of iron, mica linings, vitreous glazings,-all are used in different forms of safe; and the absorbent composition used for a stuffing or damper exhibits great variety,-burnt clay, powdered charcoal, dust, fragments of stone, baked wood ashes, coarse sand, small gravel, sawdust, bonedust, ground alum, gypsum, Austin's cement, combined two or more together, with or without provision for moistening them when heated. Some of these fireproof receptacles have recently been constructed of great magnitude. One was made by Messrs. Chubb in 1858 for the Vancouver branch of the Bank of British North America. It was 7 feet high, 9 feet deep, and 7 feet wide. It was made of wrought iron, lined with a fire-resisting composition. It was, in fact, a chamber, containing nineteen separate and distinct lock-up safes, besides shelves for books and papers. On the exterior it had two large folding doors, having three detector locks, and throwing thirty bolts all round. The various pieces, weighing 14 tons in all, were sent out separated, to be built up at the place of destination. A partner in this firm, after the disastrous loss of the gold-laden ship Royal Charter, wrote to one of the public journals in the following terms:-"In ocean-ships the bullion-room is usually formed by lining some nook or corner with strong iron-plates, bolted to, or forming part of, the ship; so that if the vessel gets on shore and breaks up, the bullion-room necessarily goes to pieces with it, and the contents are dispersed. I would suggest that these safes should not be in any way connected with or fixed to the ship. In case of a wreck or breaking up of the vessel on shore, the safe would go to the bottom, preserve its contents intact, and be readily recovered. As a safe four feet square will hold more than 2,000,000l. sterling, very little space would be interfered with."

A London solicitor, in a letter to the Times,' has pointed out the desirability of having, somewhere near the courts of law and inns of court, a public or joint-stock institution for the safe custody of valuables from fire and depredation. "The main features of my plan," he explained, "would be to erect two or three fireproof buildings in so many localities in London, most convenient to professional gentlemen

Fireproof Textile Goods.-Attempts are now being made to impart something of the nature of non-inflammability to the muslin and other light materials of which ladies' dresses are made. Very lamentable calamities from fire have drawn attention to the subject; and at the Aberdeen Meeting of the British Association, in 1859, certain experiments were described which had been made by Messrs. Versmann and Oppenheim. It has long been known that cotton and linen fabrics may be partially protected from fire by a solution of alum or of common salt; but the alum weakens the fibres, and the salt makes them harsh and crisp-faults which greatly lessen the value of the processes. Experiments showed that borax will exert a considerable preservative effect, but that the material is weakened thereby as with alum. It was next found that phosphate of ammonia exerts the preservative effect without that of weakening; but here occurred a new difficulty: the salt becomes decomposed under the heat of the laundress's iron. Sulphate of ammonia, only one-fourth the price of the phosphate, was next tried; it had most of the merits and the one defect of its predecessor. Messrs. Versmann and Oppenheim at length hit upon the tungstate of soda, as a salt which, in solution, imparts a considerable degree of non-inflammability to textile or woven fabrics, without weakening them, or rendering them harsh and stiff, and also without liability of having the preservative properties removed by heat or by washing. Since the Aberdeen meeting, the inventors have arrived at a conclusion that the cheap sulphate of ammonia will suffice in factories on general woven goods; but the tungstate of soda is better for domestic use, where the fabric is likely to be afterwards ironed. It is evident, from this enumeration of chemical agents, that others of superior efficacy may probably be discovered. A new process has just been announced, the invention of M. Carteron, of Paris, which will render silk as well as cotton and linen fabrics incombustible, but the method has not been published.

FIRE SHIPS. Among the peculiarities of naval warfare may be instanced the use of fire ships, a class of vessels which are so fitted with inflammable and combustible substances, as to take fire in all