| Description | Written from Penshurst, Kent. The letter offers Nasmyth's suggestions for solving the problems with the launch of the Great Eastern. Nasmyth's suggestion is to provide a method of lifting the ship, perhaps to allow Brunel to oil the launching ways, and gives instructions for creating the lifting apparatus and his calculations for how much the lifting apparatus could lift. The letter also mentions that Nasmyth suggested his hydraulic mattress to John Scott Russell several months previously. |