The shears are likewise provided with a hydraulic cylinder, E (Fig. 1), placed on the back of the beam, B, and serving, through a cable, to bring the piston of the large cylinder to the end of its upward stroke, and for certain accessory work. Finally, the apparatus as a whole is completed by an accumulator containing in reserve a large part of the water necessary for each operation. The apparatus is capable of lifting a maximum load of 120 tons from 22 feet beneath the wharf to 22 feet above, and of moving it from 28 feet beyond the edge to 16 feet back of it, say a total of 44 feet. The cylinders of the lifting and oscillating presses are 1¾ feet in diameter and 4 inches in thickness. The stroke of the second is 22½ feet. The length of the uprights is 110½ feet and that of the connecting beam is 109 feet. The apparatus has been tested under satisfactory conditions with a load of 140 tons.--_La Nature._ THE DISTRIBUTION OF HYDRAULIC POWER IN LONDON. At a recent meeting of the Institution of Civil Engineers, a paper on the above subject was read by Mr. Edward Bayzand Ellington, M. Inst. C. E. The author observed that water power was no new force, but that, as formerly understood, it was limited in its application to systems of mechanism suitable for the low pressures found in nature. The effects obtained by the use of high pressure were so different in degree from all previous experience, that a new name was needed, and had been found in the term "hydraulic power." Bramah's genius produced the hydraulic press, and he clearly foresaw the future development and great capabilities of his system; but it was reserved for Lord Armstrong to work out and superintend the intricate details that had to be developed before the system could be made fully serviceable. The public supply of hydraulic power in London constituted the latest development of this system. The hydraulic power was supplied through mains charged by pumping at a pressure of 700 lb. per square inch. The first and largest pumping station had been erected on a site known as Falcon Wharf, about 200 yards east of Blackfriars Bridge. The engine house at present contained four sets of pumping engines, each set being capable of exerting 200 I. H. P.