STEPHENSON'S LAMP.

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Some facts have been ascertained, which, to a certain extent, militate against its absolute security under all circumstances; thus, a strong current of air carries the flame through the gauze, to remedy which, a shield has been used on the windward side. Besides, gauze yields to the action of a column of flame after some time; but to this it ought never to be exposed in carefully conducted mines.

The late eminent engineer, George Stephenson, independently of the celebrated chemist, had discovered the same principles of safety, and invented a lamp in 1815, which is still in use in some collieries. The "Davy" and the "Geordey" have become household words among us, and to our shame no other memorial in the land proclaims the gratitude of their countrymen.

Subsequently, Upton and Roberts proposed a modification, by employing a glass cylinder to defend the flame from the action of currents of air, which has been still farther improved by Glover and Cail, in introducing a current of cold air between two glass cylinders, one of the objections to the use of glass being its liability, after becoming heated, to break on the application of cold air or water.

It is impossible to describe within our limits all the various forms which have been suggested. Some are characterised by great delicacy, so that the flame is extinguished by the slightest explosion. Another indicates the presence of a large quantity of gas by a peculiar noise, or, in the language of the inventor, "Elle crie dans le danger;" but none combine so many practical advantages as the Davy.

Mr. Stagg suggested employing the electricity of the waste steam of the colliery engines by means of Armstrong's machine. He proposed to carry a wire down the shaft, and to break contact wherever a light was required, protecting the charcoal points within a glass cylinder hermetically sealed.

We now reap the benefit of the labours of many ingenious men for the last half century in a cheapened fuel; and if we cannot yet count upon perfect immunity from danger for our miners, the following statistics will show how far this danger has been reduced to a minimum.

Previous to the introduction of the safety-lamp, from 1817 to 1825, there was one life lost for every 142 miners employed per annum, and after the use of the Davy, from 1825 to 1831, this was reduced to 1 in 345.

Mr. Taylor has now adopted a different standard by which to judge of the efficiency of the precaution employed in lighting and ventilating coal-mines, viz., the quantity of coal raised for the loss of one life, and he finds at present that the following is the result of his inquiry:

In 1853, the number of persons employed underground in the northern counties, was estimated at 33,000, and the total loss of life from all causes was 151,-a number lamentably too high, and which, we hope, may be annually reduced by improved methods of working and ventilation, increased education among the miners, and a deeper sense of responsibility among all engaged in this important source of national wealth.

T. R.

NOTES ON NORWAY.

ISLANDS OF EIDER-DUCKS.

No. VI.

SAITHE-SHOWER.

JOURNEY. FORFEIT-MONEY. COUNTRY INNS.

OF SNEEHAETten. A ROYAL WAITER.

OVERLAND

ASCENT

SOON after leaving Bodö, we recrossed the Arctic circle. A day or two after this, landing on the little island of Sövik, we engaged a fisherman to pilot us to the Stor Braken, an island famous for the abundance of its Eiderduck. It is one of the outermost islands; and the length of the sail from Sövik to the Brakens gave us some idea of the depth of the belt of islands, great and small, which hem in the coast. We were surprised to find inhabitants on these outer islands, the ultima Thule of Norway. They all turned out, though it was midnight, and surveyed us with great interest. They were most grateful for some Norsk tracts and some tobacco, which we gave them. We found the Eider-duck very abundant, and it is from these islands that a large portion of the down is procured which gives to German quilts and pillows their cloud-like softness and lightness. We had engaged our pilot for the day, at the rate of half a thaler. But when we came to part with him, he would not accept the full amount, because he had been with us much less than twenty-four hours; and this, though we were obliged to land him at a considerable distance from his home. We had to employ no little urgency before he would yield. It is pleasant in this Mammon-loving age to meet with traits like this.

About eleven o'clock next night, while becalmed between two islands, and occupied with tea in the cabin, we were

startled by a sudden splashing and dashing in the sea close beside us, which resembled the noise of a waterfall. Going on deck we found that a vast shoal of saithe were disporting themselves in the sound. They seemed to be in pursuit of a shoal of very small herrings; and they, in their turn, were pursued by some half-dozen porpoises, which tumbled about in their track. For a minute or two the noise and commotion would entirely cease, and then be suddenly recommenced with fresh energy in another part of the sound. Putting off in our small boat, we were soon at the margin of the disturbed waters with salmon-rods and lines. saithe leaped so greedily to the fly, that in less than an hour we returned with a copious supply of them, varying from one to five pounds. Their rapid change of place, with the incessant cataract-like noise produced by their leaping, and the occasional appearance among them of an unwelcome porpoise, made the little bay a sufficiently animated scene for an hour or two. During the day we had several whales of considerable size sporting about our vessel.

The

Next day, Sunday, it blew almost a gale from the south, with incessant rain, obliging us to lie at anchor in the snug sound of Naerö, among the Vigten Islands. We were struck with the excessive variableness of the climate. A few days before we had been scorched with the heat of the cloudless and almost unsetting sun; now it was so chilly that we were glad to cower over a fire in the cabin, as we listened to the rain pelting upon the masts and deck above. We were able, however, to congratulate ourselves that this was the first thoroughly bad day we had encountered.

On the morning of the 20th of July we again found ourselves riding at anchor among the little merchant fleet of Trondhjem Bay. Here our mode of travel was to undergo a change. We had resolved to proceed overland from Trondhjem to Christiania, and thus gain some acquaintance

TAKING THINGS LEISURELY.

183

with the interior of the country, while the yacht was to be despatched to Christiania to meet us there. We were accordingly busied with the necessary preparations. Our kind friend Mr. K. had, at our request, secured two carriages for us. On finding our charioteer, however, we discovered that he expected three days' notice. Days were too precious to us to admit of such delay; so we told Ulle (the name is, perhaps, the commonest in Norway) that we wanted to start next morning. "Next morning!" he said; "the thing is impossible!" "And why impossible?" I asked. "Because we are not ready. The saddler is repairing the cushions, and the smith is repairing the wheels, and they cannot be done for two or three days." "Take me to the saddler's,” I said, "and we shall see." It turned out, as I anticipated, that an hour or two's work was all that the cushions required, and with some difficulty we got a promise that they should be ready by six next morning. A similar assurance was, with similar difficulty, procured from the smith. And these engagements were kept. If the Norwegians are slow and cautious in making engagements, they are most faithful in keeping their promises. Poor Ulle looked very much surprised at this mode of despatching business, and managed to find out some other difficulties; but these, too, being disposed of, he at length agreed to be ready for us on the beach at seven o'clock next morning. We would strongly advise the traveller in Scandinavia to see to his own affairs whenever time is an object.

We were occupied most of the day in laying in the necessary provisions, &c., both for the yacht and for ourselves. We filled a large tin box with loaves, fowls, ham-beef, &c. Next morning, true to his word, Ulle was waiting for us with his carriages at the landing-place at seven o'clock. Our own arrangements, however, were not completed, so that we were about two hours behind the appointed time in