5.In 1821an iron ship，put together in a London dock，steamed down the Channel to Havre.The application of iron armour to vessels of war became an object of rivalry between France and Britain.These ironclads，as they have been called，came into practical use during the Civil War in America.
6.English constructers arm their vessels with solid plates of rolled iron，strongly backed by planks of teak strengthened with iron bars，and defended within by an iron skin.Iron armour has been recently applied also to forts；but the contest between cannon and iron-plating is not yet over.A shot-proof turret，or cupola，revolving on a pivot，is generally placed on the ironclad or ironfort.The gun within，and its port-hole，can both be turned in any direction.
7.Steel cannon，not cast but built ring by ring，are now made，capable of throwing enormous conical steel shells with such force as to penetrate iron plates six inches thick.Steel has also been applied with success to the armour plating of ships of war.
8.In small guns or fire-arms remarkable changes and improvements have been made.The old flint musket，throwing its round leaden bullet，received a percussion lock，which proved a great advantage；but it has undergone further and more momentous changes，by which it has become a breech-loading rifle，capable of sending a conical bullet with remarkable precision and force to a very great distance.
9.These advances，and the introduction of the railway，the electric wire，and even the balloon into the field of war，have made the modern battle-field a scene with conditions but slightly resembling those of even Waterloo and Austerlitz.
10.But we must thankfully remember that the modern applications of iron have not been confined to the science of destruction.In addition to the railroads，locomotives，and steamboats already noticed，vast bridges of iron，such as the Britannia Tubular Bridge across the Menai Strait （1850），and the Victoria Bridge acrossPART OF THE VICTORIA TUBULAR BRIDGE.
the St.Lawrence at Montreal，both the work of Robert Stephenson，have been constructed of this metal.It has been applied also to building purposes，of which the Crystal Palaces，the first erected for the Great Exhibition of 1851，have been the most notable examples.
DISCOVERY OF THE FRANKLIN RELICS.
11.The secret of th e nor th-west pa ssa ge f rom Europe to the Pacific Ocean h a s b ee n so lv ed b y tw o independent explorers.Theearlier was Sir John Franklin，who left England in 1845with the Erebus and the Terror，but was frozen up with his ships，and perished with all his associates.The relics of the expedition were found at the mouth of the Great Fish River in 1857.Captain Robert Maclure，in the Investigator，sailed，after much delay and peril of life among the ice，from Behring Strait into the Atlantic （1851）.
12.In Africa，the basin of the Zambesi has been explored by David Livingstone，a medical missionary，who has dispelled the delusion that the portion of Africa north of Cape Colony is an arid tract of barren sand.In oneof his journeys he discovered on the Zambesi the Victoria Falls，a cataract larger than Niagara.He then explored Lake Nyassa （1859），and everywhere found a fertile land，inhabited by tribes of some advancement，but blighted by the evil influences of the slave-trade.
13.The Nile has also received its share of attention from explorers，of whomtwo have been most distinguished.Captain Speke，an Indian officer，penetrated the continent from Zanzibar，and discovered （1858）a vast lake，which he named Victoria Nyanza.As Speke and his intrepid companion Grant were descending the Nile after this triumphant result of their toil，they met Mr.（afterwards Sir Samuel）Baker.Accompanied by his wife，Baker pressed up the stream，and was rewarded by the discovery （1864）of another lake of colossal size，the Albert Nyanza.
14.The most successful explorer of Australia was Captain Sturt，who traced the course of the tributaries of the Murray （1829），and in 1847penetrated the sandy interior of the island.A tragic interest hangs over the expedition of Burke and Wills in 1860-61.After having penetrated almost to the northern shore of the island continent，they retraced their steps，but reached Cooper’s Creek，five hundred miles north of Adelaide，too much exhausted to proceed.
There they died of starvation.
15.The general use of gas in dwelling-houses-the increasing use of the electric light in public places-the advance of photography （first applied to taking portraits in 1839）-the adoption in domestic life of the sewing-machine，invented by Elias Howe of Massachusetts-may be noted as steps of progress.
16.Provident habits among the working classes have been encouraged by the establishment of savings banks，and the increased facilities afforded by insurance companies.Emigration to the colonies clears the land of its surplus bands；while the poor-houses，under Government control，minister to the wants of those who are unable to support themselves.
中文阅读
1.自从19世纪以来，将蒸汽用于驱动机车给文明世界的人类生活带来了了不起的变化。1811年，海伦伯格一家小旅馆的老板亨利·贝尔在克莱德河下水了由蒸汽驱动的、载重量为25吨的船只“彗星”号。四年后，乔治·斯蒂芬森成功地制造了一台能够在铁轨上拖曳货物的机车蒸汽机。1830年，还是这个机械天才，在他儿子罗伯特的协助下，将“火箭”号放上了利物浦和曼彻斯特之间新建的铁轨；从那以后，铁路系统开始发展并延伸至全世界。由蒸汽船带来的巨大的海上成就，则是“萨凡纳”号1819年从纽约到伦敦、以及1825年“企业”号到印度的海上航行。
2.伯明翰一所学校校长的儿子罗兰·希尔经过不懈努力，在1840年创建了通用便士邮费，极大地促进了通信的发展。不过，从它和韦特斯通与库克于1837年联合发明的电报来看，这还只是小事一桩。电报的第一次成功试验，是在欧斯顿广场与卡姆登镇之间铺设的金属线上。
3.其必然结果就是海底电缆的发明，而海底电缆是1842年一个名叫莫尔斯的美国人最早创意的。雅各布·布雷特在1851年将这一想法变成了现实，他从丹佛到加莱铺设了一条用古塔胶缠绕的电线。随后在1858年，这种做法发展成更加宏伟的工程：横贯大西洋，在爱尔兰西海岸的小岛瓦伦蒂亚和纽芬兰的特里尼特海湾之间铺一条电缆。这条电缆传递了三个星期的信息，但随之便停止了传导电流，因为缆绳出现了破损。
4.这次失利和1866年获得巨大成功的八年间，标志性事件就是在红海、地中海和波斯湾之间铺设缆线。1865年，大西洋电缆在铺设过程中突然出现断裂，但在随后的1866年，技术和科学的胜利不仅体现在成功铺设了一条更牢固的海底新电缆，而且在更新过程中从海洋中部这一深度打捞出了丢失的缆绳。此时，在欧洲和美洲之间已经有四五条电缆在工作了。