Discoveries and Inventions of the Nineteenth Century

Artificial canals are amongst the oldest of inventions, for, centuries ago, they have been constructed, even of very large dimensions, in various parts of the world. There is in China, for instance, a great canal, 900 miles in length and 200 feet broad, which is supposed to have been made 800 years ago. The advantages of canals did not escape the attention of the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. We read of very early attempts to cut through isthmuses, in order to form a water communication between regions where other carriage would be long and difficult. It appears to be admitted that canals connecting the Red Sea with the Mediterranean existed some centuries before the Christian era, and to cut the Isthmus of Corinth by a waterway was a cherished project with several Roman Emperors, and now it appears that in this nineteenth century this project will shortly be realized. But as the canal-lock is but a comparatively modern invention, dating only from the fourteenth century, and first used in Holland, all the canals anterior to that period had to be designed as level cuts, a restriction which greatly increased the difficulties of the problem. Canals were in use in various parts of Europe, 250particularly in Holland and France, long before any were constructed in England, as, for example, the Languedoc Canal, which, by a cut of 150 miles, connects the Bay of Biscay with the Mediterranean. It is 60 feet broad, and attains, at its highest level, an elevation of 600 feet above the sea. The canal system in England was first introduced in the middle of the eighteenth century, and soon afterwards, the Duke of Bridgewater engaged the famous Brindley to construct a canal, connecting his collieries at Worsley with Manchester, about seven miles distant, and afterwards extended his scheme, so as to open up a more direct water communication between Manchester and Liverpool. Before the making of this canal, the cost of the carriage of goods between these towns had been forty shillings per ton by land, and twelve shillings by water. After that, they were conveyed with regularity for six shillings per ton. The system was soon extended, so as to connect the Trent with the Mersey, and the boldness of both the projectors and their engineer in carrying out this scheme is memorable in the history of such undertakings. Brindley was equal to the task of coping with the difficulty of carrying his canal over what had hitherto been supposed an insuperable obstacle, for he pierced Harecastle Hill with a tunnel more than a mile and a half in length—a then unheard of piece of engineering—to say nothing of several shorter tunnels, many aqueducts, and scores of locks. The Duke of Bridgewater, who at one period had been unable to raise £500 on his own bond for the prosecution of his scheme, died in 1803, in receipt of a princely income from the profits of his useful undertaking. For its creation, he had, however, denied himself the present enjoyments of his patrimonial revenue, by reducing his expenses at one period to the modest sum of £400 per annum. Before his death, the Duke, for taxation purposes, estimated his income at £110,000 per annum. Before the railway system was fully established a network of canals had united the most populous places in England, the total length of the waterways being not much less than two thousand miles. With the rise of railways the importance of canals as channels for the conveyance of merchandise declined. But, nevertheless, in consequence of the continued increase of traffic and the great cheapness with which goods can be carried by water, canals are often able to compete with railways in the carriage of bulky or heavy goods when speed of transit is not an object. The English canals have, therefore, never been disused or abandoned, notwithstanding the ubiquitous ramifications of the railway lines. Nay, the value of the Bridgewater Canal system, about to be superseded so far as concerns the communication between Liverpool and Manchester by the greater scheme we have presently to describe, is such that £1,710,000 is now required for its purchase; and that is the value in spite of four lines of railway connecting those great towns, and all competing for the carriage of goods. In these canals, designed for inland communication only, the navigation is confined to boats or barges of very insignificant dimensions compared with the sea-going ships that some great modern canals are constructed to receive. To the present century belongs the famous “Caledonian Canal,” as the waterway is often called that extends in a straight line for more than 60 miles across Scotland, in north-east and south-west directions. The canal work here was commenced in 1802, under the direction of Telford, and though it was opened for traffic in 1822, the work as it now exists was not completed until 1847. But the length of the actual canal 251construction in this case did not much exceed 23 miles, for a natural waterway, navigable for ships of any burden, is formed by the series of narrow lakes that fill what is called the “Great Glen of the Highlands.” This glen has many of the characteristics of a great artificial ditch: its highest point is only 90 feet above the tide level in Loch Linnhe; a circumstance not a little remarkable in so mountainous a country. What is also remarkable is the great depth of these lakes, which in some places exceeds 900 feet. The banks also are generally very steep, and indeed at one time it was impracticable to pass along the shores of Loch Ness, the longest of the lakes. But there are now good roads along both banks. Although the ground traversed by the artificial channels of the Caledonian Canal is chiefly alluvial, the cost of the undertaking proved to be great, amounting, it is said, to about one and a quarter million pounds sterling. Indeed, had it not been for the introduction of steam navigation before the completion of the work, and the consequent increase and facility of water conveyance, it is doubtful whether the utility of this canal would have been commensurate with its cost, or its receipts have made any profit for its promoters. By the Caledonian Canal large steamers and other vessels may pass from sea to sea, and in the summer time the steamers that traverse it are crowded with tourists attracted by the magnificent scenery it presents throughout the greater part of its length. But whatever had previously been done in canal construction was surpassed in enterprise and importance by Lesseps’ great work in Egypt.