invulnerable. He (the Duke of Somerset) confessed it had led him to a very different conclusion, and he though the invulnerability of iron vessels was a matter of very great doubt. Much had been said about the powers of the Merrimac in running down the Federal frigate; but it must be remembered that the frigate was at anchor, and the Merrimac was a mass of some 3,000 tons, though not moving at a very rapid rate. He believed her utmost speed was some five or six knots an hour. He believed that one of our own iron frigates attacking a wooden vessel under such circumstances might have effected a similar result. So that he did not think the result conclusive; at any rate, it would not be so easy for the Merrimac to run down a steamer in motion, which would escape her much as a hare would run before a greyhound. It yet remained to be learnt how far the Merrimac was injured by the encounter. He believed it was quite true that the Merrimac was defended with railway iron bars, but they had been previously rounded.

The Monitor, on the other hand, was a vessel of very curious form, one which Mr. Ericsson, in a letter which had at least been attributed to him, had declared to be quite new. That letter purported to convey an admonition to the Admiralty, and he (the Duke of Somerset), on the part of the Admiralty, felt much obliged for the admonition; and if Mr. Ericsson would only continue his experiments, he would save the department a great deal of trouble at Shoeburyness. But the Monitor, in fact, was something between a raft and a diving bell, Her deck was only two feet above the water, when the water was smooth, and there was no protection on her deck whatever. The crew and officers consequently lived under water, and their only means of ventilation was by a pipe which ran up through the deck; so that living on board such a vessel could not be very pleasant. Their cupola, moreover, was built with inch iron over inch iron; ours were made of four solid inches of iron, which was a great deal stronger. That experiment of the superior strength of solid iron had been tried repeatedly, and upon that subject there was no doubt. Thus far their vessel was defective. The Monitor, moreover, was not fitted to go from port to port. He perceived from a letter in a Montreal paper, it had been stated that the Monitor had been all but lost on the voyage; that she would have sunk had it not been for the assistance of a steamer; that her crew were nearly stifled by smoke, clouds of vapour from the furnaces, and foul air, and that with 400 men on board, life was very much like what it must have been in the black hole at Calcutta. It was stated that during the action such was the want of ventilation in the ship, that the eyes and noses of the seamen shed blood; whilst the concussion in the cupolas was so great as to disable many of the artillerymen, This evil of concussion in the cupola, he might observe, had been remedied in the case of our own vessels now in construction,

Then, again, much was said of the American 11-inch and 9-inch Dahlgren guns; but the question was, what velocity did they produce? One of their largest guns attained a veloeity only of 900 feet in a

second; whilst a 68-pounder of ours attained a speed of 1,500 feet in a second. That was also a rifled gun; but what was more remarkable was, that rifled guns would not do. It was at first supposed that nothing was like rifled guns; but in order to attain the highest velocity possible, recourse must be had to heavy, smooth-bored iron guns; and with wrought iron guns of that description, when a velocity was attained of 1,700 feet a second, he should be curious to see how iron plates would stand it. At the same time he did not doubt that, in a few years, much larger guns than any at present would be brought into use.

The result of experiments, however, hitherto had been to show, that whilst rifled guns could maintain a high velocity at great distances, yet for the purpose of penetrating iron plates near at hand, recourse must be had to wrought-iron smooth-bored guns. Following the other observations of the noble earl, he (the Duke of Somerset) thought that not merely two, but three classes of ships would be required in the navy. First, it would be necessary to have some speedy vessels to accompany our merchant shipping if they needed defence-the Cunard and other liners now simply relying on their own speed to escape an enemy; secondly, there must be another class of ships to cruise at sea; and, thirdly, there must be a class of iron vessels to defend our coasts and harbours. But he thought it would be most unwise to proceed more rapidly in the matter than they were now doing. Some wooden ships would still be of use for the purpose of serving as despatch vessels, and for the transport of troops; but as to the building of ships generally of wood, he thought they might hold their hands. No new wooden line-of-battle ships had been commenced; and those which had been laid down were readily convertible into iron-plated ships.

As to the question whether ships built upon Captain Coles's plan were capable of being an entire substitute for forts, his opinion was that an iron vessel if disabled in action, would be very glad to get under the guns of a fort; and it must be remembered that there was no limit to the size of guns which could be placed in a fort, while after all there was a limit to those which could be worked from an iron ship. They of the Admiralty no doubt were apt to think that vessels alone could do the work, and would like to take all the money and use it for the purposes of defence in their own way; but he thought the question must be gravely considered, and it would be most unwise to jump hastily to a conclusion. Another circumstance connected with the recent conflict was that the guns of the Merrimac could not be vertically trained, they could not be deflected beyond a certain point, reminding one of the incident in the memoirs of Lord Dundonald, where he captured a Spanish barque by getting in under her guns and boarding her, whilst she could only fire over his head. If it were possible to forget the frightful loss of life which occurred in these conflicts, and the misery and suffering that were spread over the American nation by the raging of this most unhappy war-these conflicts, viewed solely as matters of scientific experiment, were of the highest interest.

The foregoing lucid statement was received with marked attention by the Club, and considered as most satisfactory. The Secretary here added that he had taken pains to obtain some representation of the two American vessels alluded to, the Merrimac and Monitor, which

he proposed to add to the foregoing, and he believed that in reference to the originality of the latter the Americans themselves considered it was due to Captain Coles. They say that

The idea of the new shield ship proposed by Captain Coles is evidently borrowed from Ericsson, unless it can be proved that Ericsson has appropriated the invention from Coles, for both are manifestly the same. And they think that-the evidence as to originality to be strong on the side of Ericsson, as the American gunboat is already built, and has fought a battle, whereas the British craft is not yet in existence, but only proposed.

But Captain Coles's letters, printed in the Times, shows that his cupola was proposed as long ago as 1855.

Another iron vessel, a steam gunboat, of the Americans being now employed, a description of her might be acceptable to the Club. This was the Nangatuck.

She is an iron screw steamer, constructed in the usual way, all being secured with beams and angle bars of the best material. The lines of the hull are not unusually sharp, as is the case with the famed Stevens battery, but present very much the appearance of one of our oldfashioned Sound propellers. She is not, as is generally supposed, intended to be a model of the Stevens battery, but it is merely designed

to illustrate some of the novel ideas connected with that monster engine of war-namely, the ability to sink and raise a vessel with great rapidity; to steer and manage her by means of two propellers placed at each side of the rudder, and taking up the recoil of the gun by means of india rubber. Experiments already made have proved the successful attainment of these points to her constructors, but yet remain unsatisfactory on the mind of the public.

The hull of the vessel is constructed of iron, 101 feet in length, 20 feet beam, and seven feet depth of hold. She draws five and a half feet light, and nine feet when submerged, and her speed, it is calculated, will be eleven miles per hour when light, and five and a half when submerged.

The principal features for her protection from shot and shell are, first, the setting of the vessel two feet lower in the water when going into action, by means of water-tight compartments, two feet deep, between the main deck and outer covering, so arranged as to be rapidly filled or emptied by powerful steam pumps. This does away with the necessity of carrying the weight of two feet of iron armour; while it substitutes to the greatest possible extent, the best known armour— water ; for experience has taught that when a ball strikes water it takes an upward direction, and will, therefore, prove perfectly harmless; and, in this instance, should a ball pass through the deck, it must pass through the bulwarks, unseen and unheard by those between decks. This peculiar arrangement will also give greater speed to the vessel while cruising, chasing, or retreating, inasmuch as it will be able to throw overboard the weight of the two feet of water between decks, and for the same reason to pass over bars and into harbours which she could not otherwise reach. Second, the use of an iron-clad bow, curved inwards, and plated with two layers of half-inch plates, strongly riveted and bolted, presents the appearance of a ram, which, no doubt, could be effectively used for running down wooden vessels. The curving of the bow is so admirably arranged that only by the merest chance would a ball strike any spot at right angles, and so must glance off; and when submerged, she presents but a small surface upon which the enemy can bring their cannon to bear. Her sides above water-line are made of white cedar, fully one foot thick, which is so soft in its nature as to allow a ball to pass through without splintering.

The machinery, which is situated abaft midships, consists of two horizontal high-pressure engines, 14-inch cylinder, and 24-inch stroke, working independent of each other, and driving the two propellers at either side of the rudder; an ordinary locomotive boiler, two double Oscillating donkey engines, Criving two of Andrews' pumps, capable of throwing out 900 gallons of water per minute. The ability of this vessel to round rapidly on her own centre, without making headway, by means of the two screws, instead of the ordinary means employed in making the circuit of a vessel, gives her remarkable and important facilities for manoeuvring in action. In connection with her speed, it will enable her to overhaul one after another of the enemy; run close

alongside; present herself for action in the most effective position; bring her big gun to bear in any direction; turn in narrow channels. and, if necessary, retreat in any direction with facility. The two screws form two distinct means of propulsion-that of driving the vessel and enabling her to be steered in case of accident to the rudder, which is double the ordinary security against the breaking of machinery in action or otherwise.

The armament consists of one 100-pound rifled gun and two of James's 12-pound howitzers. The heavy gun is mounted amidships, pointed towards the bow, and is loaded from below by depressing the muzzle downwards, which is effected by means of pulleys ingeniously constructed for that purpose. This gun is loaded by means of a moveable charger, which can be raised or lowered at pleasure. The ramming is accomplished by a sort of piston-rod, elevated on a line with the muzzle of the gun, which is also worked by pulleys, thus affording the celerity of loading and firing every half minute. This gun rests on a shot-proof iron carriage, of which the recoil (only six inches) is taken up by the employment of large india-rubber springs. The hull is divided into four water-tight compartments, and on descending the gangway of either of these compartments, you find yourself upon the second deck, in a small iron box, yet having ample accommodation for the purposes for which they have been assigned. The cook's galley is situated at the bow; next come the sailors' apartments, then the magazine and rendezvous for action; and next to this the engine-room, which is abaft midship. The officers' quarters are on deck, comfortable looking, but rather limited. When in action but one person is necessarily exposed.

All this iron and steam and heavy guns, exclaimed the Commodore, are revolutionizing the whole system of our navy. Our towering castles of wood are mere monuments of a past age, doomed to be annihilated, cut down to make cupola ships-our once boasted wooden walls can no longer show themselves at sea. "Hearts of oak are our ships, jolly tars are our men,” must become “Hearts of iron are our ships, clad in armour are our men," and we shall be hammering away at each other like Merrimacs and Monitors with no effect; in fact, there will be no end of drawn battles-the pride of the sea, the ship in all her majesty of swelling canvas that as Byron said used to

“Walk the waters like a thing of life,”

will become a kind of nondescript—a mass of iron just above the surface of the water, with a pump here and there, an air-pipe, and a smoke-stack.

Aye-added Albert, the poet sang of old, and so it still is,

“Tempora mutantur et nos mutamur ab illis.”

And my worthy salt friend have we not as much iron as any power in the world, good coal to work it, and good stout arms to fight in armour if we must do so.

Yes, we must go with the stream of time, returned the Commodore,