Through the roof pass the water-supply and air-shafts, two of each, composed of one-quarter-inch boiler-iron, and arrang ed in pairs for convenience in working, as well as to guard against accidents and delays. Before being bolted, each timber in a course is forced into place, both vertically and horizontally, by heavy iron clamps or dogs and wedges. The bolts and clamps, acting together, make the whole as near as possible like one solid piece. The joints of each course are filled with pitch, and the surface dressed off smooth and level, and again pitched and dressed before the succeeding course is applied. The lower part of the V, which by its narrow edge is to aid the settling of the caisson into the earth, is shod with a cast-iron shoe, oval on the bottom, 8 inches wide on the top, and 2 inches through the thickest part, and cast in sections of eight feet in length, bolted to the bottom of the first course with four drift-bolts, and protected and held in place by an armor of boiler-iron, extending vertically three feet on the outside, and also three feet up the inner slope, and firmly bolted through and through. The figure shows a section of the shoe on a larger scale. The outside seams and those of the thirteenth roof-course are calked with the heaviest twelve-thread calking, and the inside seams well calked, but less heavily. This heavy calking rendered it necessary to use a large number of bolts to prevent the joints from opening under the pressure. As a further precaution against leakage, a layer of tin, between two of felt, is placed around the outside up to the thirteenth, and over the roof, between the thirteenth and fourteenth courses. The sheeting of tin is soldered to angle-irons about the shafts placed for that purpose, and on the outside is covered by a sheathing of plank four inches thick. To prevent water from following the bolts which pass through the tin and felt, a rubber washer is placed next the felt, which, like the other washers, are by the press materials removed through the water-shafts by means of dredging-machines. The excavation is now finished. The chamber and shafts are being filled with concrete masonry, making a solid block 168 feet by 102 feet on the bottom, 164 feet 4 inches by 98 feet 4 inches on the top, and 29 feet thick, and weighing about 17,000 tons. ECUADOR, a republic in South America. President for the term from 1869 to 1875, Garcia Moreno. Area, 218,984 square miles; population, 1,300,000. The value of exports from the port of Guayaquil (exclusive of precious metals) amounted, in 1869, to 3,413,996 piastres (that of cacao alone, 1,904,012). The foreign debt was, in 1865, 9,390,554 piastres, and the home debt, 3,692,955 piastres. The public revenue, in 1869, amounted to 1,401,300 piastres, of which 576,600 were the proceeds of import duties. The standing army amounts to about 1,500 men. The number of vessels entering the port of Guayaquil during the * year 1869 amounted to 153, together of 63,230 tons. The vessels belonged to the following countries: England, 61; Germany, 16; France, 10; Italy, 11; Peru, 26; Ecuador, 25; Central America, 3; Chili, 1. Minister of the United States in Ecuador, E. Ramsey Wing (1870). EGYPT, a dependency of Turkey, in Northern Africa. The ruler bears the official title of Khedive, the Arabic equivalent for Viceroy. This dignity is now hereditary in the family of Mehemet Ali. The present Pacha of Egypt is Ismail (born in 1816), who followed, on January 18, 1863, his brother Saïd as the fifth Viceroy of Egypt. A Council of State (created in 1856) is at the head of the administration. The area of Egypt is 659,000 English square miles. It has about 8,000,000 inhabitants, 5,215,065 inhabiting Egypt proper. The chief cities are: Cairo, 313,383 inhabitants; Alexandria, 238,888; Damietta, 60,000; Tantah, 55,000. Egypt proper is divided into three great districts, namely, "Masr-el-Bahri," or Lower Egypt; "El-Dustani," or Middle Egypt; and "Es-Said," or Upper Egypt-designations drawn from the course of the river Nile, on which depends the existence of the country. These three geographical districts are subdivided into eleven administrative provinces, which, according to an enumeration made by the Government, had the following rural population in 1862: Provinces. No. of Villages. Rural Population. LOWER EGYPT-Behéreh. 855 Rodat-el-Bahrein. 843 Dakalijeh.. Kaljubijeh. Gheezeh, Total Lower Egypt... MID. EGYPT-Ninjeh & Beni-Mezar 86,545 945,903 1,266 413,854 574 462,418 Fayoom... 104 66 Beni-Soocf.. 169 280,791 143,389 95,402 519,582 404.064 347,055 417,876 3,806,522 Total Upper Egypt.. Total of Egypt Proper.. Almost the entire rural population is in a state approaching serfdom, holding life and property at the good-will of the governing class. The inhabitants of the towns comprise 150,000 Copts, reputed descendants of the ancient Egyptians; 8,000 Jews; 3,000 Armenians, and about 25,000 domiciled Europeans, one-third of them Greeks. At Cairo and Alexandria there are numerous slaves. The total receipts for the year ending April 2, 1870, according to the official budget, amounted to 1,469,000 purses, and the total expenditure to 1,177,811 purses (500 piastres= 1 purse, 20 piastres 1 American dollar). Exclusive of the floating debt, Egypt has a very large consolidated debt, consisting chiefly of foreign loans. These are divided into two classes, namely, general loans, supposed to be contracted by the country, and loans of the Khedive, as sovereign and greatest of landowners. The total general loans contracted See AMERICAN ANNUAL CYCLOPEDIA for 1869. up to January 1, 1870, amounted to $107,930,000, on which the interest and sinking fund for 1870 summed up $12,748,115. The loans of the Khedive, on January 1, 1870, comprised $24,751,200; interest and sinking fund, $3,309,150. Not included in the foregoing statement is a loan of the Khedive of $35,714,300, contracted in Paris and London, May, 1870, on the mortgage of his private domains, known as the "Daira Sanieh." The loan, bearing interest at 7 per cent., was issued at the price of 781 per 100, and was announced to be repayable by half-yearly drawings at par, in 20 years. The army is raised by conscription. It consisted, in January, 1869, of four regiments of infantry, of 3,000 men each; of a battalion of chasseurs, of 1,000 men; of 3,500 cavalry; 1,500 artillery; and two battalions of engineers, of 1,500 each. There is, besides, a regiment of black troops, of Soudan, numbering 3,000 men. The Egyptian navy comprised, in 1869, 7 shipsof-the-line, 6 frigates, 9 corvettes, 7 brigs, 18 gunboats and smaller vessels, and 27 transports. The value of the commerce of Alexandria with foreign countries was, in 1869: imports, 517,300,000 piastres (234,700,000 from Great Britain); exports, 831,400,000 (612,400,000 to Great Britain and 109,000,000 to France). There entered in Alexandria, in 1869, 2,884 vessels, with a tonnage of 1,263,144; 1,061 of which vessels were steamers; passengers, 55,719. The length of telegraphs is about 2,000 English miles. A report, presented in the early part of the year by M. de Lesseps to the meeting of Suez Canal shareholders at Paris, states that, during the year 1870, about 8,000,000 francs would be required to complete and improve the works. The total number of vessels that passed through the canal, from the day of its opening to the 15th of March, was 209, representing 146,631 tons. Of these, 56,052 tons were English vessels; 34,390 French; 17,666 Egyptian; 14,625 Austrian; 7,886 Italian; 4,178 Russian; 4,000 Norwegian; 3,200 Dutch; 880 German; 528 Spanish; 3,015 Prussian: 369 Portuguese, and 342 Turkish. Of the 209 vessels, 200 were steamers; the others were sailing-vessels. The tolls collected were from 79 vessels of 54,644 tons (130 vessels being exempt, having passed through on the occasion of the opening of the canal), realizing 593,411 francs, and the amount from small vessels as transit dues was 20,186 francs. With respect to England the report says: "England has from the first day been able to utilize the canal largely. You have seen what an imposing commercial fleet she has sent to it, and that fleet augments every day. Building-yards work literally night and day in the United Kingdom in transforming or building vessels. We could cite to you a single company which, in its calculations, has put down an annual payment of 2,500,000 francs for the canal." The number of vessels passing through the canal continues to increase in something like geometrical ratio month by mouth. Thus, in December, 1869, the number was 10; From the accounts of the Canal Company it appears that, The current incidental expenses of all kinds were.... The company has cash, and cash assets (other property than the canal itself and its accessories). Total.. On the other side of the account must be put: The capital... The loan... First indemnity from the Egyptian Govern ment... Later do.. Profits of investments.. Current accounts payable... Receipts from transit of boats and ships. Total....... 16,600,000 8,000,000 6,100,000 $90,700,000 1,300,000 It was proposed at first by the Government that the new courts should be composed partly of native and partly of Frank judges, the natives to have the majority. This was reversed, and the Frank judges are to have the majority in every court. It was proposed at first, that the lower courts should be composed of three judges; at the request of the commissioners, the number of judges in these courts has been increased to five, of whom three will be Franks. There are to be three of these lower courts (Alexandria, Cairo, and Tagazig). There is also to be a court of appeal at Alexandria, which the Government at first proposed should consist of five judges; it is now agreed that it shall consist of seven judges, of whom four will be Franks. The original plan of the Egyptian Government stopped with the three lower courts and the Court of Appeal; but, at the suggestion of the commissioners, a Court of. Revision at Cairo has been added, to consist also of seven judges, of whom four will be Franks. The Frank judges are to be appointed by the Egyptian Government, but only after 20,000,000 consultation with the Ministers of Justice or equivalent officer, as Lord-Chancellor, At16,800,000 6,000,000 torney-General, or the like, of the foreign gov5,600,000 ernments, and no person can be appointed 1,000,000 without the sanction of his own government and a certificate from it that he is a fit and $90,700,000 proper person to be judge. The Egyptian Government is bound to select them, as far as possible, from among persons actually serving as judges in foreign countries, or holding positions which would entitle them to be appointed judges in their own countries. The judges are to have fixed salaries paid by the Egyptian Government, and a permanent tenure of office; their promotion or removal (for cause only) is to be regulated entirely independently of the Egyptian Government. The judges are to appoint the officers of the court, such as clerks, interpreters, and constables, to serve processes, etc., and it is to have the power of removing them for misbehavior. The execution of sentences is to be done under the order of the courts themselves by their own officers, without any interference on the part of any administrative authority, either of the Egyptian Government or of the consulates. But, as a security against mistakes, the commissioners exacted, and the Government agreed, that the consul of the party interested shall be notified of the day and hour when a sentence is to be executed. The Egyptian Government itself, the private household of the Khedive, those of the princes and all public functionaries and officers, are to be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts. Government officials can be prosecuted in the courts, and this without previous authority of the Government; but the commissioners say, and this is agreed to by the Government, that this clause is not to be understood as exempting the Government from responsibility for the acts of its officials. The administration of justice, in cases in which Franks (foreigners) are concerned, has long been found to be unsatisfactory. The Egyptian Government proposed therefore, in 1868, a plan of reform, to substitute a single new jurisdiction for all the consular jurisdictions, and for the native courts in cases to which Franks are parties. The plan as at first broached met with an outcry of opposition from the Frank residents of Egypt. It received some degree of support from the British Government, but was not very favorably regarded by the French Government. The Egyptian Government, nevertheless, persevered in pressing its plan upon the attention of the principal foreign powers, and obtained the acceptance by Great Britain, France, Italy, Russia, Prussia (or, rather, the North-German Union), Austria, and the United States, of the invitations which it addressed to those seven powers, requesting them to send representatives to an international commission to be held in Egypt to consider the plan and suggest such modifications as would tend to make it acceptable. All of these nations accredited their consul-generals in Egypt to attend the conference, and some of them appointed also a second commissioner to sit with the consul-general in the Conference. The Conference held a number of meetings, and at last, January 17, 1870, agreed upon a report, which was signed by the representatives of all the governments taking part in the Conference. On the suggestion of the commissioners, the Egyptian Government accepted very important modifications in the plan as originally presented. The assembly of representatives of the peoplo was opened on the 1st of February. By order of the Khedive, the Minister of Finance presented to the assembly the results of the last budget, which comprises the period between the 11th of April, 1869, and the 1st of April, 1870. The receipts are stated by the report to have amounted to 190,460,142 francs, and the expenditures to 152,665,068 francs, so that a balance of 37,795,074 francs would remain in the Treasury. In July, the Khedive paid a visit to the Sultan, by whom he was received with great honors. He returned on August 2d, and expressed himself highly gratified with his reception by the Sultan. ELECTRICITY. Electricity and Molecular Motion.-In studying the molecular motion of microscopic particles, Prof. Stanley Jevons soon became convinced that it was due to electrical action, by the close analogy with the circumstances in which electricity is produced by the hydro-electric machine, pure water alone developing much electricity; while almost any salt, acid, or alkali, prevented the action by rendering the water a conductor. The most active substances in this respect are the silicates, pure quartz crystal in fine powder maintaining a rapid oscillation; but charcoal, red phosphorus, antimony, and sulphur, are also very active; metallic oxides and earthy salts less so. But it cannot be said that any substance is entirely free from molecular motion. The motion appears to be closely connected with the suspension of fine powders in water. All oxides, alkalies, and salts, which check it, were found to facilitate the subsidence of suspended material. Gum-arabic, on the contrary, prevents subsidence, and greatly excites molecular motion. Ammonia and boracic acid have no effect either to stop motion or to facilitate subsidence. Acetic acid has the latter effect. Prof. Jevons is of opinion that the motion of suspended particles is related to the phenomena of osmose as a case of action and reaction; for, if a liquid is capable of impeding a particle in a given direction, the particle, if fixed, would be capable of impelling the liquid in an opposite direction with an equal force. The fact that osmose is chiefly an affair of very dilute solutions accords with the electric origin of the molecular motion. The author thinks it not unlikely that, when these phenomena are fully investigated, they will give strong support to Becquerel's theory that the movements of liquids in animals and plants are really due to electric action. In reference to Prof. Jevons's views, Mr. Dancer remarks that particles approaching to a spherical form show the greatest activity, with some few exceptions, as in the case of sublimed mercury and sulphur. He did not regard electric action as a satisfactory explanation of the phenomena, but thought the results of many experiments pointed to heat as a probable cause. New Electro-Dynamic Law.-Mr. H. Highton announces in the Mechanics' Magazine, for November, the discovery of a new electrodynamic law, which in brief may be thus stated: First, in every galvanic circuit the net heat produced by the chemical decompositions is divided into three parts: that due to any local action arising from impurities in the positive metal, or to reformation of water from the nascent hydrogen, etc.; that which circulates through the battery and all other parts of the circuit, and which varies as the electromotive power of the negative element in relation to the electro-positive; and, lastly, the residue which remains in the battery. Second, the part which circulates through the whole circuit is distributed in each part of the circuit, including the battery, in simple proportion to the resistance of each part. To these propo sitions the author adds that the amount of net heat evolved depends principally on the positive element, and the proportion of it transmitted through the circuit chiefly depends on the negative element. Duration of the Electric Spark.-During the early part of the year, MM. Lucas and Cazin conducted experiments to ascertain the dura tion of the electric spark, at the Imperial Observatory in Paris. The chronoscope which they employed was constructed by M. Duboscq, and recalled the apparatus devised by M. E. Becquerel for his important investigations on the phosphorescence of bodies. The sparks passed between two metal knobs, 11 millims. in diameter and 2,292 millims. apart. The experimenters announce that, other things being equal, the duration of the electric spark is a fraction of the surface of the Leyden battery; or, in other words, of the number of jars which compose it. Each additional jar adds to the duration. One jar gave a shock lasting between seven and eight millionths of a second; two jars one of nearly twelve millionths of a second, and so on, until the spark from nine jars were found to last about twentyeight and a half millionths of a second. In no case did the difference of the duration, as mechanically observed, and the duration as theoretically calculated, reach the millionth of a second. Sub-permanent Magnetism.-Mr. E. Kernan sends to the Chemical News the following account of experiments by which what Prof. Tyndall calls sub-permanent magnetism may be easily produced-thus showing to a class quickly that which is effected by the earth slowly in soft iron lying in the magnetic meridian, and subject to molecular disturbance from percussion or other causes: The requisites for the experiments are-a block of cast-iron (wrought-iron might, perhaps, do), slightly magnetized, a bit of soft iron wire, a hammer, and a magnetic needle for testing the wire. Expt. 1.-Lay the iron wire on the block, and hammer it lightly from end to end, for a few seconds. Presented to the needle, the wire will be found magnetized, showing dis |