The CHAIRMAN: It remains that I should ask you to give a vote of thanks to the reader of the paper, and also to those gentlemen who have been kind enough to show us their models, which are of the greatest interest.

APPENDIX.

SOCIETY FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF ARTS, MANUFACTURES, AND COMMERCE, John Street, Adelphi, London, W.C.

SAVING LIFE AT SEA.

GOLD MEDAL.

COMMITTEE.

T. Brassey, Esq., M.P.; Donald Currie, Esq.; Admiral Nolloth; Admiral Sir Erasmus Ommanney, C.B., F.R.S.; Capt. Price, R.N., M.P.; Admiral

A. P. Ryder; Admiral Sir E. Sotheby; Capt. Toynbee.

The Council of the Society of Arts offers its Gold Medal for the best means of saving life at sea, when a vessel has to be abandoned suddenly, say with only five minutes' warning; the shore or other vessels being in sight.

1. Preference will be given to appliances to which fewest objections are established, on the score of their occupying valuable space, interfering with the stowage of more important articles, being in the way, being unsightly, not being ready at hand, requiring more or less fitting" when brought into use.

2. Preference will be given to appliances to which fewest objections are established on the part of medical men, on the score of the appliances being unhealthy.

3. Preference will be given to appliances to which fewest objections are established on the part of seamen, on the score of their being uncomfortable, inconvenient, &c.

4. Preference will be given to appliances which afford a buoyancy of, at least, 40 lbs. to each person on board, whether of the crew or a passenger.

N.B.-The cork life-belt, usually supplied, has a weight of 5 lbs., and a buoyancy of 20 ibs. It will float a man of ordinary dimensions, with his shoulders just a-wash, provided all the rest of his body is under water. The life-belt placed in their boats by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution has a buoyancy of about 25 lbs., but only weighs 5 lbs., owing to the superior quality of the cork.

5. Preference will be given to means of flotation which utilize articles already existing on board, so that no extra space will be required.

6. Preference will be given to appliances that are the least expensive, as to first cost and annual repair.

7. Preference will be given to appliances best able to stand the variations of climate, rough treatment, &c.

8. Neither boats nor rafts will be admitted to the competition, as it is almost certain that in the contemplated cases of abandonment neither of them could be lowered or cleared away in time, and because, even if the boats stowed outside could be cleared away, there would rarely be sufficient space to provide means of safety for all the crew and passengers.

NOTE. Of course, if there were time to clear away boats or rafts, they would be first attended to.

9. Cork belts, with a buoyancy of less than 40 lbs., will not be admissible, as it is most important that the mouth and nostrils of every one in the water be raised as far as possible above the surface. The ordinary life-belt, admirably suited for use in boats, and to support in the water persons accustomed to immersion in it, would frequently be quite insufficient in the cases contemplated for all non-swimmers, especially women and children.

10. No preparation of india-rubber or gutta-percha will be admissible, as with the

greatest precautions they are not sufficiently proof against the effects of climate and of ill-usage.

NOTE 1.-It is to be understood that, under the special circumstances of the cases contemplated, all that is aimed at is to preserve life until the shore is reached, or the immersed persons are picked up. For this reason no provision is expected to be made for food or water.

NOTE 2.-Competitors are at liberty to draw a distinction between appliances most suitable to men-of-war, to passenger ships, to ordinary merchant ships; also between the different circumstances attending a sudden abandonment by day and a sudden abandonment by night.

The Gold Medal will be awarded for the appliance, or combination of appliances, which answer in the highest degree the various qualifications named above; but the Council is at liberty to withhold the Medal if, in the opinion of the Judges, nothing is submitted worthy of the award.

Appliances intended for the competition must be sent in not later than the 31st October, 1878, addressed to the Secretary, Society of Arts, John Street, Adelphi, London, W.C., and must in every case be accompanied by a short description. P. LE NEVE FOSTER, Secretary.

By order,

April, 1878.

NAMES OF MEMBERS who joined the Institution between the 1st July and

OCCASIONAL PAPERS, NOTES,

AND

NOTICES OF BOOKS.

This portion of the Number is reserved for Articles, either Original or Compiled, on Professional Subjects connected with Foreign Naval and Military matters; also for Notices of Professional Books, either Foreign or English.

It is requested that communications, or books for review, may be addressed to

LIEUT.-COLONEL LONSDALE A. HALE,

Royal Engineers,

Royal United Service Institution,

Whitehall Yard, London, S.W.