A somewhat similar injudicious arrangement of the manhole is shown in Fig. 55, where a manhole 17 inches by 14 inches was cut out of the flat top of a steam dome only 2 ft. 6 ins. diameter, without any strengthening ring to compensate for it. The repeated strain of screwing up the manhole lid, combined with the pressure of the steam, caused the lid to force its way out through the plate and blow away. This explosion occurred at Birmingham in 1865. [Illustration: _Fig. 55._] The preceding examples have shown how explosions often result from faults in the construction of boilers; and the following instances illustrate the explosions caused by mischief arising during working. A boiler perhaps more than any other structure is subject to wear and tear; and let it be worked ever so carefully, it will seriously deteriorate. The wonder is, considering the work they have to perform, that so many boilers are found which have worked twenty, thirty, or even fifty years without explosion. The terms wear and tear however are too vague for this subject, and the mischief met with must be considered under distinct heads. There is no doubt that the thing most to be dreaded for boilers is corrosion; because when the plate is once thinned, it cannot be strengthened again, but must remain permanently weakened. Corrosion the more deserves attention because it is easily detected by moderate vigilance, and can generally be prevented by moderate care, or by the boilers being so arranged that they can be readily examined in every part. Corrosion has been the direct and unmistakeable cause of a very large proportion of the explosions that have happened: it occurs both inside and outside the boiler, according to circumstances, and attacks the iron in various ways and in different places. [Illustration: _Fig. 56._] [Illustration: _Fig. 57._] [Illustration: _Fig. 58._] [Illustration: _Fig. 59._]