The con

produce nearly all the blocks used in the Royal Navy.* struction of this block machinery, completed in 1808, was entrusted to the late Mr. Henry Maudslay, from whom Brunel had already derived considerable assistance in the execution of his models and working out of his designs. It was erected in Portsmouth Dockyard, and the economy produced by the first year's use of these machines was estimated at about 24,0007., two-thirds of which sum was awarded to the ingenious inventor, who was soon after engaged by the government to erect extensive saw mills, and carry out other improvements at Chatham and Woolwich. Brunel was essentially an inventor; besides the above-mentioned machines, he took out patents for "the manufacture of tin-foil," for "copying presses," for "stereotype printing plates," a contrivance for making the small boxes used by druggists, and a nail-making machine.

He likewise introduced the system of cutting veneers by circular saws of a large diameter, to which is mainly due the present extensive application of veneers of wood to ornamental furniture.

A short time before the termination of the war with France he devised a plan for making shoes by machinery, and under the countenance of the Duke of York the shoes so manufactured were introduced for the use of the army, on account of their strength, cheapness, and durability; but at the peace in 1815, the machines were laid aside, manual labour having become cheaper, and the demand for military equipments having in a measure ceased. Steam navigation also attracted Brunel's attention, and he became deeply interested in establishing the Ramsgate steam vessels, which were among the first that plied effectively on the River Thames. About this period, after much labour and perseverance, he induced the Admiralty to permit the application of steam for towing vessels to sea, the experiments being made chiefly at his own expense, a small sum in aid having been promised, but eventually withdrawn before the completion of the trials, the Admiralty considering the attempt too chimerical to be seriously entertained.

In the year 1824 Brunel, undeterred by the two previous failures of Dodd and Trevethick, commenced his great work-the Thames Tunnel. It is said that the original idea occurred to him as applied to the Neva at St. Petersburgh, in order to avoid the inconvenience arising from the floating ice; a plan which he offered to the Emperor Alexander, on the occasion of his visit to this country in 1814. During the above-mentioned year a company was formed for the execution of this work, under the auspices of the Duke of Wellington, who had always entertained a favourable view as to its practicability; and after numerous accidents, and frequent suspensions of the works, this great and novel undertaking was successfully

*The total number of machines employed in the various operations of making a ship's block by this method was forty-four, and 16,000 blocks of various sizes could be turned out in the course of a year.

accomplished, and opened to the public in the year 1843. In the prosecution of this undertaking Sir Isambard derived great assistance from his son, the late Mr. I. K. Brunel.

The shield, as it was termed, under shelter of which the excavation beneath the bed of the river was carried forward, required very peculiar contrivances to adapt it to its purpose. It was made in sections or compartments contained in a strong square frame, each section or compartment being moved forward by screws, as the men working in them proceeded with the excavation; the entire shield was thus enabled to be moved forward, and the brickwork, consisting of two tunnels, was built up to the extent that it had been advanced.

After the completion of the Tunnel, Brunel's health became seriously impaired from the labours he had undergone in its execution, and he was unable to mix in active life; he expired on the 12th of December, 1849, in his eighty-first year, after a long illness. He received the honour of Knighthood in 1841, and the order of the Legion of honour in 1829; he was also a corresponding member of the French Institute, a Fellow of the Royal Society, and a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, which he joined in the year 1823.—Annual Report of the Institution of Civil Engineers. December 17, 1850.—Beamish's Life of Brunel. London, 1862.

EDMUND CARTWRIGHT, D.D., F.R.S., &c.

Born April 24, 1743. Died October 30, 1823.

Dr. Cartwright, whose invention of the power-loom may be considered as one of the valuable elements of our national manufacturing superiority, was born at Marnham in Nottinghamshire, and was the youngest of three brothers, all of whom were remarkable men.* He was educated under Dr. Clarke, at the Grammar School of Wakefield, and had he been permitted to follow the bent of his own inclination in the choice of a profession, would have preferred the navy; but two of his brothers being already designed for that service, it was thought advisable that Edmund should enter the Church. Dr. Cartwright began his academical studies at University College, Oxford, where he was entered at fourteen years of age, and during the vacations was placed under the private tuition of Dr. Langhorne, the editor of 'Plutarch's Lives.'

* Dr. Cartwright was the younger brother of Major John Cartwright, the well-known English Reformer of the reign of George III., to whose memory a bronze statue is erected in Burton Crescent, London

In process of time he became distinguished for his literary abilities, and was elected a Fellow of Magdalen College. He likewise evinced a considerable taste for poetry, and published in 1770 a legendary tale, entitled 'Armine and Elvira,' which went through seven editions in little more than a year, and was greatly admired for its pathos and elegant simplicity. Some years subsequent to this, Cartwright wrote 'The Prince of Peace,' published in 1779, and was also for several years a principal contributor to the 'Monthly Review.'

In the year 1772 he married the daughter of Richard Whittaker, Esq., of Doncaster, and after his marriage resided first at Marnham, and afterwards at Brampton in Derbyshire, to the perpetual curacy of which he was presented by the Dean of Lincoln, Dr. Cust. It was while attending to his clerical duties at this latter place, that Cartwright discovered the application of yeast as a remedy for typhus fever. In 1779 he was presented to the living of Goadby Marwood in Leicestershire, and continued to reside there until the summer of 1796, when he removed with his family* to London, as being a situation more favourable for the cultivation of the scientific pursuits in which he had by that time become engrossed.

Dr. Cartwright had attained the mature age of forty, before his attention was drawn towards the subject of weaving, by the following accidental occurrence:-In the summer of 1784, he happened to be on a visit at Matlock, in Derbyshire, and in the company of some gentlemen from Manchester. The conversation turned upon Arkwright's spinning machinery; and fears were expressed by one of the company, that, in consequence of the recent improvements, so much cotton would soon be spun, that hands would not be found to weave it. To this the doctor replied, that the only remedy for such an evil would be to apply the power of machinery to weaving as well as spinning. The discussion which ensued upon the practicability of doing this, made such an impression on Cartwright's mind, that on returning home he determined to try and see what he could do.

His first attempts, as might be supposed, were very clumsy, but he at length succeeded in constructing a machine (for which he took out a patent in 1785), which, although rude and cumbersome in its action, was yet capable of weaving a piece of cloth. Up to this time he had never turned his mind to anything mechanical, either in theory or practice, and his invention was consequently susceptible of great improvement. To accomplish this, he now examined with care the contrivances already in use among the weavers, and availing himself of their general principles, produced in the year 1787 a far more complete and valuable machine, since known as the power-loom.

* Dr. Cartwright was married twice. His first wife died in 1785, and in 1790 he married the youngest daughter of the Rev. Dr. Kearney.

C

Shortly after he had brought his loom to perfection, a manufacturer who had called upon him to see it at work, after expressing his admiration at the ingenuity displayed in it, remarked, that wonderful as was Dr. Cartwright's skill, there was one thing that would effectually baffle him, and that was, the weaving of patterns in checks, or, in other words, the combining in the same web a pattern or fancy figure with the crossing colours which constitute the check. The doctor made no reply to this at the time; but some weeks afterwards, on receiving a second visit from the same person, he showed him a piece of muslin, of the description mentioned, beautifully executed by machinery, which so astonished the man, that he roundly declared his conviction that some more than human agency must have been called in on the occasion.*

Dr. Cartwright being precluded by his clerical character from entering himself into the manufacture of his machines, a weaving factory was erected at Doncaster, by some friends, with his licence, but it was unsuccessful; and another establishment, built at Manchester, containing 500 looms, was destroyed by an exasperated mob in 1790. Cartwright, however, still continued his inventions, and shortly afterwards contrived a wool-combing machine, which met with even fiercer opposition from the working-classes, who went the length of petitioning parliament to suppress all such obnoxious machines. Their great utility, however, caused them by degrees to be generally adopted; and at the time of Cartwright's death, steam-looms had increased so rapidly, that they were performing the work of 200,000 men.

Notwithstanding the great advantages which the cotton and wool manufacturers reaped from these inventions, their author had as yet obtained no emolument from them, but, on the contrary, had incurred a heavy loss. In consideration of this, and on the petition of several influential cotton-spinners, Parliament in 1810 made the doctor a grant of 10,000l.-a sum which, although munificent as a present, hardly covered what he had expended in his experiments. Having received the sum awarded by Parliament, and being now sixty-six years of age, Dr. Cartwright was desirous of passing the remainder of his life in retirement and tranquillity, and for this purpose purchased a small farm at Hollenden, in Kent. At this place he spent the remainder of his life, occupied in various scientific and mechanical experiments.

Dr. Cartwright was the author of many other inventions in the arts and agriculture, for some of which he received premiumis from the Board of Agriculture and Society of Arts. He also contrived an ingenious modification of the steam-engine, in which he made use of surface condensation, and metallic spring packing for the piston.

Till within a few days of his death, Dr. Cartwright retained full *Pursuit of Knowledge, vol. 2.

possession of his mental faculties, and attained, at the time of his decease in 1823, the age of eighty-one. His remains were interred in the church at Battle, in Sussex. Memoir of Dr. Edmund Cartwright. London, 1843.-Stuart's Anecdotes of the Steam-Engine. London, 1829.

THE HON. HENRY CAVENDISH, F.R.S.

Born October 10, 1731. Died February 24, 1810.

Henry Cavendish, the third in order of time among the four great English pneumatic chemists of the eighteenth century,* was the younger son of Lord Charles Cavendish, whose father was the second Duke of Devonshire. His family trace back their descent in unbroken and unquestionable links to Sir John Cavendish, Lord Chief Justice during the reign of Edward III. The great majority of the distinguished chemists of Great Britain have sprung from the middle and lower ranks of the people, but in this respect Henry Cavendish presents a remarkable exception. He was moreover immensely wealthy, so much so, that it has been epigrammatically remarked of him, "That he was the richest of all wise men, and probably, too, the wisest of all rich men;" yet no one could well be more indifferent than he, to the external advantages which are conferred by birth and fortune. Few particulars are known of his early life. He was born at Nice, whither his mother, who died when he was two years old, had gone for the sake of her health.

In 1742 Cavendish became a pupil at Dr. Newcome's school at Hackney, continuing his studies there until he had reached his seventeenth year, when he went to Cambridge, where he matriculated in the first rank on the 18th of December, 1749. He remained at this university until 1753, but did not graduate.

After leaving Cambridge, the personal history of Cavendish becomes a blank for the next ten years. He joined the Royal Society in 1760, but did not contribute anything to its 'Transactions' until the year 1766, when he published his paper 'On Factitious Airs,' which contains the first distinct exposition of the properties of hydrogen, and the first full account of those of carbonic acid; and a paper published by him in the following year may be considered as a still further extension of his research into the properties of this acid.

For some considerable time after this, Cavendish appears to have * The other three being Hales, Black, and Priestly.