78. Letter to an Inventor (September 17, 1847).....486 79. Letter on the Royal Commission on the Application of Iron to Railway Structures (March 13, 1848).....486 80. Letter on a Proposal to obtain Recognition in England of Decorations conferred at the Paris Exhibition of 1855 (Feb. 9, 1856).....489 81. Memorandum for Evidence before the Select Committee of the House of Lords on the Patent Laws, A.D. 1851.....490 He has had large experience of the patent laws (p. 490)--Has never taken out one, and is of opinion that the system is productive of immense evil (p. 491)--Reasons for this belief (p. 491)--Conditions necessary for a successful patent (p. 493)--Disadvantages of patents (p. 494)--Impediments in the way of improvements (p. 495). 82. Extract from Observations on the Patent Laws made by Mr. Brunel at a Meeting of the Society of Arts (March 28, 1856).....497 83. Letter from Philæ, describing the Ascent of the Cataracts (February 12, 1859).....517 84. Report to the Directors of the Great Western Railway Company on the Broad Gauge, &c. (August 1838).....525 He is desirous of combining his views into one report (p. 525)--The difficulties have been overcome, or are gradually diminishing (p. 525)--And the result justifies the attempt which has been made (p. 526)--The gradients of the Great Western Railway are favourable (p. 526)--Advantages of the broad gauge (p. 527)--Reasons for adopting it (p. 528)--Additional cost in construction is very slight (p. 529)--Weight of carriages (p. 530)--Freedom from accidents (p. 531)--Greater space for works of locomotives (p. 532)--The greater width gives scope for improvement in every part (p. 532)--Speed obtained (p. 532)--Design of the engines (p. 533)--The continuous system of permanent way is best adapted to high speeds (p. 535)--Calculations as to its cost compared with that of a well constructed line with stone blocks (p. 537). 85. Report to the Directors of the Great Western Steam-Ship Company, recommending the Adoption of the Screw Propeller in the ‘Great Britain’ Steam-ship (October 1840),.....539