her water-borne in a traveling
caisson, as on the Monklands incline, or supported on a cradle, as
in the incline at Newark, in the State of New Jersey, the barges were
transferred from one level to another; but an important improvement on
either of these modes of overcoming a great difference of level is the
application of direct vertically lifting hydraulic power. A notable
instance of this system was brought before the Institution in a paper
read on the "Hydraulic Canal Lift at Anderton, on the River Weaver,"
by S. Duer,[2] and another instance exists on the Canal de New Fosse,
at Fontinettes, in France, the engineers being Messrs. Clark and
Standfield, who have other lifts in progress. This system reduces the
consumption of water and the expenditure of time to a minimum.

[Footnote 2: Minutes of Proceedings Inst. C. E., vol. xlv., p. 107.]

With respect to canalized rivers, the difficulty that must always have
existed when these rivers (as was mostly the case) were provided with
weirs to dam up the water for giving power to mills has been augmented
of late years by the change in the character of floods. It has
frequently been suggested that in these days of steam motors in lieu
of water power, and of railways in lieu of water carriage, the injury
done by obstructing the delivery of floods is by no means compensated
by the otherwise all but costless power obtained, or by the
preservation of a mode of transport competing with railways. It has
thereupon been suggested that it would be in the interests of the
community to purchase and extinguish both the manufacturing and the
navigating rights, so as to enable the weirs to be removed, and free
course to be provided for floods. It need hardly be said, however,
that if means could be devised for giving full effect to the river
channels for flood purposes, while maintaining them for the provision
of motive power and of navigation, it is desirable that this should be
done. The great step in this direction appears to be the employment
of readily or, it may be, of automatically movable weirs. Two very
interesting papers on this subject by Messrs. Vernon-Harcourt and E.
B. Buckley were read and discussed in the session 1879-1880. These
dealt, I fear exclusively, with foreign, notably with French and
Indian, examples. I say I fear, not in the way of imputing blame to
the authors for not having noticed English weirs, but because the
absence of such notice amounts to a confess