_Grab Dredgers._--The grab dredger was stated by Sir Benjamin Baker (_Proc. Inst. C.E._ vol. 113, p. 38) to have been invented by Gouffé in 1703, and was worked by two ropes and a bar. Various kinds of apparatus have been designed in the shape of grabs or buckets for dredging purposes. These are usually worked by a steam crane, which lets the open grab down to the surface of the ground to be excavated and then closes it by a chain which forces the tines into the ground; the grab is then raised by the crane, which deposits the contents either into the hopper of the vessel upon which the crane is fixed or into another barge. The Priestman grab has perhaps been more extensively used than any other apparatus of this sort. It is very useful for excavating mud, gravel and soft sand, but is less effective with hard sand or stiff clay--a general defect in this class of dredger. It is also capable of lifting large loose pieces of rock weighing from 1 to 2 tons. A dredger of this type, with grab holding 1 ton of mud, dredged during six days, in 19 ft. of water, an average of 52½ tons and a maximum of 68½ tons per hour, and during 12 days, in 16 ft. of water, an average of 48 tons and a maximum of 58 tons per hour, at a cost of 1.63d. per ton, excluding interest on the capital and depreciation. The largest dredger to which this apparatus has been applied is the grab bucket hopper dredger "Miles K. Burton" (Plate I. fig. 9), belonging to the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board. It is equipped with 5 grabs on Morgan's patent system, which is a modification of Priestman's, the grabs being worked by 5 hydraulic cranes. It raised and deposited, 12 to 15 m. at sea, 11 loads of about 1450 tons each with a double shift of hands, at a cost of about 1s. 5d. per cub. yd. of spoil, including the working expenses for wages of crew, fuel and stores. Mr R. A. Marillier of Hull has stated that "the efficiency of these grabs is not at all dependent upon the force of the blow in falling for the penetration and grip in the material, as they do their work very satisfactorily even when lowered quite gently on to the material to be cut out, the jaws being so framed as to draw down and penetrate the material as soon as the upward strain is put on the lifting chain. Even in hard material the jaws penetrate so thoroughly as to cause the bucket to be well filled. The grab is found to work successfully in excavating hard clay from its natural bed on dry land." It is claimed on behalf of grabs that they lift a smaller proportion of water than any other class of dredger.