| Description | Written from 1 Hillside Crescent, Edinburgh. The letter describes the progress on the rotating stand that Smyth has been designing for Brunel to include in the Eastern Steam Navigation Company's ship. The letter asks for confirmation that Brunel's version of the stand works sufficiently well that they only need to sort out the size to have a working model. However, Smyth emphasises the need to understand the principles of the device, and he goes on to describe how the device, and its underlying principles might work, with reference to a lecture given at the Royal Institution by Reverend Baden Powell and a child's toy sent to Smyth by Brunel as well as to other experiments and analogies. The letter discusses possible alterations that might be made to Brunel's model. There are sketches on Folios 220, 224 and 225 illustrating Smyth's points. |