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 Digital Image
Watermarking
Theoretical and Computational
Advances
 Intelligent Signal Processing and Data Analysis
Series Editor
Dr. Nilanjan Dey
Department of Information Technology,
Techno India College of Technology, West Bengal, India

A Beginner’s Guide to Image Pre-processing Techniques

Jyotismita Chaki, Nilanjan Dey

Bio-Inspired Algorithms in PID Controller Optimization

Jagatheesan Kallannan, Anand Baskaran, Nilanjan Dey, Amira S. Ashour

For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.crcpress.com/

Intelligent-Signal-Processing-and-Data-Analysis/book-series/INSPDA
 Digital Image
Watermarking
Theoretical and Computational
Advances

By
Surekha Borra, Rohit Thanki, and
Nilanjan Dey
MATLAB ® and Simulink® are trademarks of The MathWorks, Inc. and are used with permission.
The MathWorks does not warrant the accuracy of the text or exercises in this book. This book’s use
or discussion of MATLAB ® and Simulink® software or related products does not constitute endorse-
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MATLAB ® and Simulink® software.

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Contents

Prefaceix
Authorsxi
Abbreviationsxiii

Chapter 1 ▪ Introduction 1
1.1 DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT 2
1.2 DIGITAL IMAGE WATERMARKING 4
1.3 CLASSIFICATION OF COPYRIGHT MARKING 5
1.4 GENERAL FRAMEWORK OF DIGITAL
WATERMARKING11
1.5 PERFORMANCE CRITERIA 12
1.6 PERFORMANCE METRICS 15
1.7 ATTACKS ON WATERMARKS 16
1.8 DIGITAL IMAGE WATERMARKING TOOLS 19
REFERENCES 22

Chapter 2 ▪ Advanced Watermarking Techniques 25

2.1 INTRODUCTION 26
2.2 WATERMARKING IN THE SPATIAL DOMAIN 28
2.2.1 Least-Significant-Bit Substitution Technique 29
2.2.2 Patchwork Technique 29

v
vi   ◾    Contents

2.2.3 Texture Mapping Coding Technique 30

2.2.4 Predictive Coding Technique 30
2.2.5 Additive Watermarking Technique 31
2.2.6 Other Spatial Domain Watermarking
Techniques32
2.3 WATERMARKING IN THE TRANSFORM
DOMAIN33
2.4 WATERMARKING IN THE DISCRETE COSINE
TRANSFORM34
2.5 WATERMARKING IN THE DISCRETE WAVELET
TRANSFORM37
2.6 WATERMARKING USING SINGULAR VALUE
DECOMPOSITION38
2.7 COMPRESSIVE SENSING AND QR
DECOMPOSITION METHODS 40
2.8 SCHUR DECOMPOSITION–BASED
WATERMARKING41
2.9 HESSENBERG MATRIX FACTORIZATION IN
WATERMARKING41
2.10 VISIBLE AND REVERSIBLE WATERMARKING 42
2.11 MACHINE LEARNING–BASED IMAGE
WATERMARKING44
2.12 CHALLENGES 57
REFERENCES 57

Chapter 3 ▪  atermarking Using Bio-Inspired

W
Algorithms 71
3.1 OPTIMIZATION AND ITS APPLICATION TO
DIGITAL IMAGE WATERMARKING 72
3.2 IMAGE WATERMARKING USING GENETIC
ALGORITHM (GA) AND GENETIC
PROGRAMMING74
 Contents   ◾   vii

3.3 IMAGE WATERMARKING USING

DIFFERENTIAL EVOLUTION (DE) 80
3.4 IMAGE WATERMARKING USING SWARM
ALGORITHMS81
3.4.1 Image Watermarking Using Ant Colony
and Bee Colony 84
3.4.2 Image Watermarking Using Cuckoo
Search Algorithm 85
3.4.3 Image Watermarking Using Particle
Swarm Optimization 88
3.4.4 Image Watermarking Using Firefly
Algorithm90
3.5 IMAGE WATERMARKING USING SIMULATED
ANNEALING (SA) 97
3.6 IMAGE WATERMARKING USING TABU
SEARCH98
REFERENCES 99

Chapter 4 ▪  ardware-Based Implementation of

H
Watermarking 107
4.1 INTRODUCTION 108
4.2 HARDWARE-BASED IMPLEMENTATION OF
DIGITAL IMAGE WATERMARKING 109
4.2.1 Hardware-Based Implementation of
Watermarking Using DSP Boards 111
4.2.2 Hardware-Based Implementation of
Watermarking Using FPGA/ASIC Chip 112
4.2.3 Hardware–Software Co-Simulation 113
4.3 PERFORMANCE OF HARDWARE-BASED
IMPLEMENTATION116
4.4 CHALLENGES AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS 126
REFERENCES 127
viii   ◾    Contents

Chapter 5 ▪  pplied Examples and Future

A
Prospectives 133
5.1 APPLICATIONS OF WATERMARKING 134
5.2 WATERMARKING IN TELEMEDICINE 136
5.3 ROLE OF WATERMARKING IN
REMOTE-SENSING MILITARY 137
5.4 INDUSTRIAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
APPLICATIONS139
5.5 FUTURE PROSPECTIVES 139
REFERENCES 141

Chapter 6 ▪ Case Study 143

6.1 EMBEDDING ALGORITHM 144
6.2 EXTRACTION ALGORITHM 146
6.3 SIMULATION RESULTS 147
6.4 MAIN FEATURES OF PROPOSED SCHEME 149
REFERENCES 154

INDEX157
Preface

I n the era of the internet, copyright protection of digi-

tal images plays an important role in web publishing, videos,
online advertising, online repositories, libraries, and so forth.
Digital watermarking techniques have proved to be an effective
way to resolve rightful ownership by embedding a watermark vis-
ibly or invisibly in the image, in such a way that the owner is able
to detect and extract it using a secret key. While there are vari-
ous spatial and frequency domain watermarking techniques that
have been developed in the past three decades, optimization is a
commonly encountered mathematical problem in all engineering
disciplines, including data security. The research on new embed-
ding domains, hardware implementations, machine learning, and
bio-inspired algorithms for image watermarking is on the rise.
This book presents advanced designs and developments in image
watermarking algorithms and hardware implementations with a
special focus on optimizing methods.
This book introduces state-of-the-art watermarking tech-
niques that have been developed in various domains, along with
their optimization techniques and hardware implementations.
The book also presents comparative analysis of more than a hun-
dred watermarking techniques. Further, it covers the applications,
difficulties, and challenges faced by such algorithms, as well as
future directions for research.

ix
x   ◾   Preface

The book is composed of six chapters, which accomplish the

following:

• Provide a broad background of image watermarking

• Provide an overview of newly developed machine learning–
based watermarking techniques in various independent and
hybrid domains
• Provide an overview of optimization problems and solu-
tions in watermarking with a special focus on bio-inspired
algorithms
• Cover the hardware implementation of watermarking
• Highlight recent innovations, designs, developments, and
topics of interest in existing image watermarking techniques
for intellectual property (IP) protection
• Outline different applications of digital image watermarking

Surekha Borra
Rohit Thanki
Nilanjan Dey

MATLAB® is a registered trademark of The MathWorks, Inc. For

product information, please contact:

The MathWorks, Inc.

3 Apple Hill Drive
Natick, MA 01760-2098 USA
Tel: 508-647-7000
Fax: 508-647-7001
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.mathworks.com
Authors

Surekha Borra is currently a professor in the Department of

Electronics and Communication Engineering and chief research
coordinator of K. S. Institute of Technology, Bangalore, India.
She earned her doctorate in the copyright protection of images
from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad,
India. Her current research interests are image and video analyt-
ics, machine learning, biometrics, biomedical signal, and remote
sensing. She has filed 1 Indian patent; published 6 books, 12 book
chapters, and several research papers in refereed and indexed
journals; and has participated in conferences at the international
level. She has received several research grants and awards from
professional bodies and the Karnataka state government of India.
She has received the Young Woman Achiever Award for her con-
tribution to the copyright protection of images, the Distinguished
Educator & Scholar Award for her contributions to teaching and
scholarly activities, and the Woman Achiever’s Award from the
Institution of Engineers (India) for her prominent research and
innovative contributions.

Rohit Thanki earned his PhD in multibiometric system security

using the compressive sensing theory and watermarking from C.
U. Shah University, Wadhwan City, Gujarat, India, in 2017. His
areas of research are digital watermarking, the biometrics system,
security, compressive sensing, pattern recognition, and image
processing. He has published 5 books, 7 book chapters, and more

xi
xii   ◾   Authors

than 25 research papers in refereed and indexed journals, and has

participated in conferences at the international and national level.
His international recognition includes professional memberships
and services in refereed organizations and program committees,
and being a reviewer for journals published by the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Elsevier, Taylor &
Francis, Springer, and IGI Global.

Nilanjan Dey is an assistant professor in the Department of

Information Technology at Techno India College of Technology,
Kolkata, India. He was an honorary visiting scientist at Global
Biomedical Technologies Inc., California, and an associated
member of University of Reading, London, United Kingdom.
Dr. Dey has authored or edited more than 40 books with
Elsevier, Wiley, CRC Press, Springer, and others, and has pub-
lished more than 300 research articles. He is the editor-in-chief of
the International Journal of Ambient Computing and Intelligence
(IGI Global). Dr. Dey is the series co-editor of Springer Tracts
in Nature-Inspired Computing (Springer Nature), Advances in
Ubiquitous Sensing Applications for Healthcare (Elsevier), and
Intelligent Signal Processing and Data Analysis (CRC Press). He is
an associate editor of IEEE Access.
Dr. Dey’s main research interests include medical imaging,
machine learning, data mining, etc. He was recently awarded as
one of India’s top 10 most published and cited academics in the
field of computer science for the period 2015–2017.
Abbreviations

ACO ant colony optimization

ASIC application-specific integrated circuit
BA bee algorithm
BCR bit correction rate
BER bit error rate
BPNN back-propagation neural network
C host data
CNN convolution neural network
CS compressive sensing
CSA cuckoo search algorithm
D extraction algorithm
DCT discrete cosine transform
DE differential evolution
DFT discrete Fourier transform
DL deep learning
DSP digital signal processor
DWT discrete wavelet transform
E embedding algorithm
f fitness function
FA firefly algorithm
FNN feedforward neural network
FPGA field-programmable group array
GA genetic algorithm
GP genetic programming
HDL hardware description language

xiii
xiv   ◾   Abbreviations

HNN Hopfield neural network

HPI host-port interface
ISA industry standard architecture
K secret key
LSB least significant bit
ML machine learning
NC normalized correlation
NVF noise visibility function
PN pseudorandom noise
PSNR peak signal-to-noise ratio
PSO particle swarm optimization
RDWT redundant discrete wavelet transform
ReLU ratified linear unit
SA simulated annealing
SS spread spectrum
SSIM structural similarity index measure
SVD singular value decomposition
SVM support vector machine
SVR support vector regression
TS tabu search
VLSI very large-scale integrated
W watermark
WPSNR weighted PSNR
 Chapter 1

Introduction

A variety of digital information, for example, pictures,

recordings, melodies, and essential archives, is being pub-
lished or exchanged between people, organizations, and associa-
tions every second. The digital content and online transmission
of data are fast, less expensive, and easy to store and process, and
result in high-quality transmission and distribution. On the flip
side, new security-related problems have arisen, such as to how
to trust, identify, or authenticate the right owner/creator/corre-
spondent, and how to confidentially and reliably protect the mul-
timedia information/intellectual property (IP). With the illegal
downloads, distributions, copying, and use of a variety of data,
such as multimedia, web-published data, broadcast information,
IP, and commercial designs, the creat​ors/p​roduc​ers/a​uthor​s/edi​
tors/​distr​ibuto​rs are experiencing great losses, and hence digital
rights has become the need of the hour.
This chapter discusses the importance of digital rights man-
agement (DRM) and copyrighting images, and reviews the
techniques defined in DRM for securing the image data and
corresponding owners. Also explained are the differences in
the concepts of encryption, steganography, and digital image

1
2   ◾    Digital Image Watermarking

watermarking. The broad classification of copyright marking

methods, the generalized digital image watermarking framework,
its performance criteria and metrics, and image watermarking
tools are presented.

1.1 DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT

To reduce the losses caused by piracy, and to limit, prevent, iden-
tify, manage, use, manipulate, distribute, deliver, and measure the
illegal actions as well as technological solutions, at every stage of
online communication, from data generation to consumption, a
standardized set of rules, methods, and techniques are defined by
the DRM systems globally. The DRM mainly deals with licens-
ing agreements, data viewing, data access, copy protection, copy
prevention, copy control, and technical protection measures when
multimedia is stored or transferred across a variety of devices
and networks. Many copyright laws and acts related to DRM,
such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), World
Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty (WCT),
and European directive on copyright, are defined for access con-
trol of copyrighted works, though they are not globally accepted
(Vellasques et al., 2010; Surekha and Swamy, 2014). The DRM
defines an open standard that discusses the issues and require-
ments related to universal multimedia access (UMA), such as
access control, which include user identification, level of access,
copy control, the creation of unauthorized copies, the detection
of illegal distribution and tracking, the prevention of users from
modifying the content, secure storage and transmission using
algorithms and protocols, renewability, and interoperability.
The DRM aims to prevent unauthorized access, copying, and
redistribution of digital media by encrypting the data and not
making it directly accessible (Mohanty et al., 2017). The DRM
can be referred to as the extension to digital media copyright-
ing, though both have different objectives and regulations. The
DRM recommends key-based encryption and watermarking
algorithms, along with some security protocols for ensuring
 Introduction   ◾   3

confidentiality, authentication, copy control, and data integrity.

The key management plays a crucial role and has a challenging
task in providing security as the working of algorithms is made
open (Borda, 2005). Key generation, verification, secure storage
and transfer, revocation, and key escrow are all part of key man-
agement. The usage of biometrics as secret keys helps in overcom-
ing key exchange problems.
Cryptographic techniques are used to make the content unin-
telligible using encryption keys and algorithms, before its storage/
publication/distribution (Thanki and Kothari, 2017). The per-
son/device having knowledge of the decryption key is allowed to
access and decrypt completely or partially the protected data upon
checking his or her authorization and user rights. Encryption,
which comes first in DRM, ensures access control and authentica-
tion of users or content. A limitation of encryption is the fragility
of ciphertext, implying that it is impossible to decrypt the con-
tent if the ciphertext is modified even partially. Random access
of scalable/multiresolution data is also not possible when data is
encrypted. Further, once the data is converted back to its original
form by authorized users for use, the cryptographic techniques
fail to protect the ownership claims, creating an analog hole. In
addition, high computational costs for encryption and decryption
majorly limit its application in real time.
A digital signature, on the other hand, is a message-dependent
data string that is appended to the original message using encryp-
tion techniques. The objective is to guarantee the data integrity and
overcome attacks related to nonrepudiation. A digital signature
can easily be removed and can be made invalid by changing the file
content (Petrovic et al., 2006). Steganography and watermarking
techniques address these problems (Langelaar et al., 2000; Thanki
and Kothari, 2017; Thanki et al., 2017, 2018). Steganography is a
kind of one-to-one secret communication technique that modi-
fies a multimedia file to hide and detect the secret message, by
authorized personnel only (Hartung and Kutter, 1999; Langelaar
et al., 2000). While both steganography and encryption ensure
4   ◾    Digital Image Watermarking

confidentiality, steganography ensures that nobody has knowledge

that entities are communicating in secret, and hence it is suitable
for copyright marking. In contrast, watermarking has been part of
one-to-many communications and is used to verify the owner of a
multimedia file (Vellasques et al., 2010).
While the objective of steganography is to protect the hidden
message, the objective of watermarking is to protect the host file
from ownership/copy conflicts. The watermark represents the
author/owner/buyer of the file (Dey and Santhi, 2017; Dey et al.,
2017; Borra et al., 2017, 2018). In contrast to appending the signa-
ture at the end of the file, as in the case of a digital signature to
ensure authorship, watermarking embeds watermarks in the file
itself, guaranteeing authorship and data integrity (Sherekar et al.,
1999). While the cryptography objective is to secure the file (confi-
dentiality) being stored/transferred, watermarking tries to secure
ownership (authenticity) of the digital file. While encryption can-
not copy control once the data is decrypted, watermarking can
protect and copy control data even after decryption (Borda, 2005;
Sherekar et al., 1999).

1.2 DIGITAL IMAGE WATERMARKING

Images are often susceptible to theft and copyright infringe-
ment. There are many occasions where images have been stolen
from websites for usage/fame/financial gain and justice did not
prevail, leading to losses for the owners/inventors. Mechanisms
for identifying images and protecting their owners from adver-
saries (Vellasques et al., 2010) are thus needed. Before the digital
era, painters/photographers/organizations usually signed their
art/photographs/designs with their signature, initials, or pseud-
onyms/print stamps/embossing seals to help identify themselves
as the owners of the images, especially if the IP were to be shared.
Watermarking is another way for an owner to sign his or her
image and ruin the efforts of attackers. A watermark is a superim-
posed image/logo/text placed over an image with the intention of
identifying the owner of the image. Analog watermarks that are
 Introduction   ◾   5

visible and relatively easy to replicate have existed for centuries.

These watermarks were first used in paper mills and later seen on
currency notes and postal stamps.
Digital watermarking as part of the DRM system provides mech-
anisms to represent/record/hide the copyright owner/distributor/
distribution chain/purchaser in the images for the purpose of pro-
viding evidence in cases of copyright protection and copyright
law enforcement (Mohanty et al., 2017). Some operations involved
in storing/editing/transmitting may distort, delete, or otherwise
interfere with watermarks. Universal acceptance and the deploy-
ment of watermarking technology will only be possible after it
reaches a satisfactory degree of maturity and after its standard-
ization, guaranteeing a minimum level of quality with provable
robustness and security levels. Considering this, it is evident that
we are in the middle stage of the process of adopting watermark
technology, working to construct effective watermarking systems.

1.3 CLASSIFICATION OF COPYRIGHT MARKING

Digital image copyright marking techniques can be classified
into many categories, as shown in Figure 1.1. The classification
is made considering a variety of parameters, such as the type of
image to be protected, the type of copyright mark, the embed-
ding domain, the perceptibility of the mark, the reversibility of
the original document, the purpose/application of the copyright
marking, its use, and the type of keys and data required at the
time of copyright verification. The host image to be protected can
be a binary/halftone image, gray/color image, medical image, or
hyperspectral image based on the application. The watermark can
be a random binary pattern, credit card number, picture, signa-
ture, logo of the owner, host image source, or host content-related
data, all of which can identify the copyright information of the
owner/company. Logo-indicating watermarks are usually binary
with smooth/sharp details. They may also include some text
information. Statistical watermarks are generated using differ-
ent noises, such as pseudorandom noise (PN) and white Gaussian
6   ◾    Digital Image Watermarking

noise (WGN). The binary random sequences generated from these

noises are often multiplied with watermarks to generate statistical
watermarks. An alternative way to generate statistical watermark
patterns is to use the patchwork method, in which the differences
between pixels in the host image are compared with the reference
value using a hypothesis test.

FIGURE 1.1 Classification of digital image copyright marking techniques.

 Introduction   ◾   7

Based on human perceptibility, copyright marks can be invis-

ible/visible/dual. Visible watermarks, such as logos, are embed-
ded transparently at image corners, warning of copyrights and
ownership for content protection (Qasim et al., 2018). Placing vis-
ible watermarks at the center of an image protects against crop-
ping but affects the quality and will not be pleasing to the viewer.
Today, visible watermarks can also be placed intelligibly on the
host image without affecting the quality using machine learn-
ing techniques. Invisible marks are mainly designed for forensic/
investigation purposes as they are placed invisibly and randomly
at any pixel positions or frequency coefficients of the image based
on a secret key. They can be recovered accordingly when required
for authentication, ownership verification, or data integrity vali-
dation purposes. Some applications embed both invisible and
visible watermarks for improved security. There are four types
of invisible marks: robust, semifragile, fragile, and hybrid tech-
niques (Qasim et al., 2018).
Fragile marking embeds marks in imperceptible portions of
an image such that the marks are destroyed in case of modifica-
tion of the image. A simple way to implement fragile marking
is to hide marks in the least significant bits of the image. The
objective of fragile marking is to ensure that the host image
is not tampered and that data integrity and authentication
are maintained. Fragile marks can be easily implemented and
removed, and are not suitable for proving ownership, but they
are useful as evidence that an image was modified. The semi-
fragile methods are limited in robustness and are designed to
survive authorized/specific levels of image processing opera-
tions, such as compression. As these methods can differentiate
some sets of operations/attacks, they are also used for checking
integrity and authentication. The hybrid approaches, on the
other hand, are a combination of robust and fragile methods
to achieve a greater level of security, as they achieve owner-
ship protection, data integrity, and authentication in parallel
(Qasim et al., 2018).
8   ◾    Digital Image Watermarking

Robust marking is preferred in cases of security applications,

such as copy control, broadcast monitoring, and copyright pro-
tection as these marks survive a wide range of attacks (Qasim
et al., 2018). Robust marking embeds marks in significant por-
tions of an image such that the marks are not destroyed in cases
of modifications/distortions to the image, such as compression,
rescaling, resampling, analog-to-digital (A/D) and digital-to-
analog (D/A) conversion, additive noise, linear and nonlinear
filtering, shifting, cropping, and rotations, to name a few. The
design of robust marking techniques is complex and challeng-
ing due to the trade-off among the conflicting requirements,
such as hiding capacity, transparency, and robustness. Though
the degree of survival of attacks depends on the application, the
ideal objective is to design the marking system such that the
mark can be removed only by destroying the host image, which
is very useful in protecting sensitive images related to the medi-
cal field and defense (Dey et al., 2017; Biswas et al., 2013). There
are two main types of robust marking based on the entity to be
protected. While watermarking identifies the copyright owner
of the file, fingerprinting identifies the authorized customer
who allows/distributes/makes illegal copies of the host image,
and/or violates the license agreements. Robust watermarking,
unless specified, is irreversible. A special category called revers-
ible watermarking is designed to be lossless as these marks are
invertible and the original watermark can be restored and/or
recovered. Zero watermarking, on the other hand, does not
affect the quality of the host image in the process of watermark
hiding.
The watermark detection itself is a function of many inputs,
such as the test image, private or public key, original watermark,
and original host image. Asymmetric/public key watermarking
allows extraction of the watermark by anyone apart from the
owner by limiting access to remove it. On the other hand, to prove
ownership of images, private watermarks are used as they can be
detected only by a secret key (Mohanty et al., 2017).
 Introduction   ◾   9

Blind watermarking techniques do not require either the

original host or the original watermark for watermark extrac-
tion, and are flexible for use in many applications, including
image authentication, copyright protection, covert communi-
cation, and electronic voting systems. Semiblind techniques do
not require the original host but do require the original water-
mark or some additional information for watermark extraction.
Content privacy, image authentication, and copyright protection
are a few applications of semiblind techniques. Non‑blind tech-
niques require the original host image for watermark extrac-
tion, which may be difficult to produce, and so are limited in
application.
Watermarking systems are classified into spatial and trans-
form categories (Qasim et al., 2018) depending on the watermark
embedding domain. These techniques are designed to insert the
watermark directly into significant portions of the pixels/trans-
form coefficients of the original host image if it is gray, or into the
luminance or respective color components. While some water-
marking techniques follow one-to-one mapping, many existing
techniques are block processed to insert one bit of watermark
over many pixels or transform coefficients randomly. In contrast
to substitution techniques, some watermarking techniques add
scaled watermark information to the host image pixels/trans-
formed coefficients while minimizing noticeable distortions.
Machine learning or optimization techniques are now in use to
determine the optimum and adaptable scale factors appropriate
for the host image.
The transform domain schemes are computationally complex
but robust for signal processing attacks and are the right choice
for resolving ownership issues. Transforms such as discrete
cosine transform (DCT), discrete wavelet transform (DWT), and
singular value decomposition (SVD) are widely employed due
to their adaption in framing compression standards and their
relative perceptual properties of frequency bands (Thanki et al.,
2017). In hybrid techniques, watermark bits are inserted into
10   ◾    Digital Image Watermarking

hybrid coefficients of the host image, obtained by combining

two or more transforms. The sparse domain techniques, on
the other hand, insert a watermark into sparse measurements
of the host image obtained from the compressive sensing (CS)
theory.
In traditional watermarking schemes, the watermark is
inserted into specified pixels or frequency coefficients of the host
image using simple logical or mathematical equations that involve
addition and multiplication. In additive watermarking, the water-
mark is inserted into the host image with the help of a gain factor,
as in Equation 1.1.

WC = C + k ´ w (1.1)

In multiplicative watermarking, the watermark is inserted using

a constant and weighted factor, which in turn is multiplied by the
pixel information or frequency coefficients of the host image to
get the watermarked image, as in Equation 1.2.

WC = C ∗ (1 + k × w) (1.2)

Intelligent watermarking schemes, on the other hand, use

various intelligent algorithms, such as machine learning, deep
learning, optimization techniques, and bio-inspired algorithms,
to improve the results of traditional watermarking (Dey et al.,
2014). The machine learning and optimization algorithms are
widely used in watermark embedding and/or the extraction
process. The bio-inspired and optimization techniques, on the
other hand, are used for the optimum selection of pixels or
frequency coefficients of the host image for watermark embed-
ding. These algorithms are also used for automatically finding
the optimized scaling factors during watermark embedding.
This is in contrast to traditional watermarking, where water-
mark bits are inserted into the host image using user-defined
locations/scaling factors.
 Introduction   ◾   11

1.4 GENERAL FRAMEWORK OF
DIGITAL WATERMARKING
Digital copyright watermarking enables us to bring copyright
violators to court, as the embedded copyright mark in any legally
published/sold image is retained and can be extracted in any cop-
ies made. Digital image watermarking is a process of embedding a
watermark into the image so as to extract it at a later stage to detect
ownership identity. Figure 1.2 shows a generalized block diagram
of robust invisible image watermarking. The host is the raw digi-
tal image that has to be protected by inserting the watermark. The
watermark can be a message/logo/statistical pattern inserted into
the host that has some relevance to the host. The general framework
of digital image watermarking and the copyright authentication
process is composed of three major components: (1) the embedder,

FIGURE 1.2 Generalized block diagram of digital image watermarking.

12   ◾    Digital Image Watermarking

(2) the extractor, and (3) the correlator. The watermark may be
encrypted before its insertion into the host image. In such cases,
the extracted watermark has to be decrypted before it is compared
to the original to make an assertion about ownership. All the com-
ponents may be hardware units or software programs.
The embedder (E) is a function of the host image (C), secret key
(K), and one or more watermarks (W). The watermark W may be a
random sequence or a meaningful message or image, such as logo
or copyright information. The embedder outputs a watermarked
image (WC) such that WC = E (C, K, W). The produced water-
marked image (WC) can be stored, transmitted, or published. The
owner must extract the watermark in order to prove ownership.
The watermark extraction process may or may not be the inverse
of embedding. The extractor function (D) accepts a secret key (K),
test image (T), and/or the original nonwatermarked image (C)
and original watermark (W) to detect the watermark (W′) such
that W′ = D (K, T, C, W). The test image can be the watermarked
image (WC), an attacked image (AC), a nonwatermarked origi-
nal image (C), or some other unauthorized image. The detected
watermark (W′) is correlated with the original to obtain a similar-
ity score (Abdelhakim et al., 2018). The correlator outputs 1 if the
similarity score exceeds a predefined threshold indicating that the
watermark is verified and the image is authenticated. A public/
private key is used in the embedding and extraction process to
achieve confidentiality. The process involved in embedder/extrac-
tor and the inputs/outputs to these components vary depending
on the type of watermarking and application.

1.5 PERFORMANCE CRITERIA
The performance of image watermarking and its evaluation
depend on several factors, such as the type of host image and
application. The subjective and objective analysis helps in identi-
fying how well the watermark is hidden in the host image with-
out being perceived by the human eye. The general performance
criteria and essential requirements of any invisible robust image
 Introduction   ◾   13

watermarking technique are given below (Mohanty et al., 2017;

Qasim et al., 2018):

• Imperceptibility/fidelity: The watermark, once inserted

into the host image, must be perceptually indiscernible.
Imperceptibility is a measure of the perceptual transpar-
ency of a watermark and is an important requirement of
invisible watermarking. It is required that the watermarked
image statistically similar to its original. Imperceptibility
often conflicts with watermark size and robustness. The
similarity of the watermarked and original/attacked
images is usually calculated by metrics such as the struc-
tural similarity index measure (SSIM) and peak signal-to-
noise ratio (PSNR) (Kutter and Petitcolas, 1999; Wang and
Bovik 2002). In some specific applications, it is required
that there not be any degradation of quality of the host
image, which makes the design of a digital watermark
extremely difficult.
• Security: This refers to the detectability and key restric-
tions. The watermarking scheme must be secure against the
unauthorized detection and modification of the embedded
watermark by attackers or imposters who have knowledge
of embedding and extracting algorithms. A digital water-
mark must be secure enough. It should be difficult for the
adversary to remove even partial information of watermark
without destroying the cover image.
• Robustness: A watermarked image undergoes unintentional
transformations, such as compression during storing and
transmission, and intentional attacks, such as cryptographic,
removal, resampling, cropping, geometric, and scaling
attacks. The resistance of a digital watermark to unforeseen
and designated attacks is crucial in watermarking and is
mainly dependent on the embedding domain and selection
of pixels/coefficients. In practice, watermarking algorithms
14   ◾    Digital Image Watermarking

cannot survive all possible attacks. Note that the level of

robustness required depends on the type of application.
• Capacity/data payload: This is the number of bits a water-
marking scheme can insert into a host image without affect-
ing its quality and robustness. The capacity requirements are
application oriented. Large payloads reduce the probability
of coincidence but allow easy tampering and have a high
impact on imperceptibility and robustness.
• Computational complexity: This is the time taken to embed/
extract the watermark. While high-security applications
demand high computational complexity, real-time appli-
cations need faster algorithms. In practice, there should
be seamless overhead during watermark implementation,
extraction, and verification in terms of cost and time.
• Reliability: This is achieved with authentication and data integ-
rity. The ability to identify host image origin/owner is referred
to as authentication. Data integrity, on the other hand, ensures
that the watermark is not modified by unauthorized entities.
• False-positive rate/probability of coincidence: A false-positive
arises if a watermark is detected from nonwatermarked images.
Large watermarks result in a smaller false-positive rate.
• Cost: The design cost with respect to area, power, and
resources must be minimal when watermarking is imple-
mented in hardware.
• Reversibility: In specific applications such as the medical
field, slight modifications to images could lead to disaster,
which may include legal implications. In such cases, it is
necessary to strictly retrieve the original host image when
required. These applications demand the development of
lossless or reversible watermarking techniques, where recov-
ery of the original image is possible after proving ownership.
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
 CHAPTER XXV.

Holborn Viaduct — Omnibuses — Cabs — Hansom's patent — Posting — Mail

coaches — Stage coaches — Hotels.

On all hands, it is admitted that the streets of

London were generally well paved, and there were
but two bad hills, Holborn and Snow Hills, which
were caused by the Valley of the Fleet. This has been
bridged over in our time, but a similar viaduct was
proposed in 1833. This was intended to take down
the houses from the corner of Bartlett's Buildings,
Holborn, to Seacoal Lane, Skinner Street, or, on the
opposite side, from Hatton Garden to the top of
Snow Hill, and erect a level terrace on brick arches
between these points, the houses to be taken down
and set back about fifty feet, or in a line with St.
Andrew's Church, and the arches under the terrace
to be fitted up as shops on Holborn Hill, with a
handsome balustrade on the top. An ornamental arch
was to be turned over Farringdon Street, on the
principle of Highgate Archway. This is, virtually, what
was begun about thirty years later, in 1867.
 As the population of London in 1831 (taking the
area as now) was only about a million and a half, it
stands to reason that there would be but about a
quarter of the traffic. The first omnibus started from
the Yorkshire Stingo, Paddington, to the Bank, on
July 4, 1829, and, becoming popular, these vehicles
were very soon multiplied, and, in 1831, there seem
to have been ninety running; for, at a meeting of
omnibus proprietors on September 10th of that year,
it was proposed, in consequence of the danger which
arose from competitive racing, to stop thirty-three of
them, and, as the chairman observed, "this
diminution would leave fifty-seven of them to run, so
that the public would have a regular conveyance
every three minutes from Paddington to the Bank,
from eight in the morning till ten at night."

As a specimen of omnibus amenities about this

time I may mention a police case at Marylebone, on
August 14, 1830. It was for an assault, but that was
of very little moment; it related more to the
convenience and safety of the public, especially the
female portion; for it came out that by some of the
cads (as the conductors were then called) it was
considered fair play to take a lady forcibly from the
steps of an omnibus she was inclined to enter and
push her into another, and that the previous week,
two ladies had been so mauled by four strong
fellows, that they would not ride at all.

The royal assent was given on September 22,

1831, to "An Act to amend the laws relating to
Hackney Carriages," etc., by which it was enacted
that, up to January 5, 1833, they should be limited to
twelve hundred, and, after that date, there was to be
no limitation to their number, except that caused by
the law of demand and supply. The hackney coach
was a cumbrous vehicle with two horses, and, in
1823, one-horsed vehicles were introduced, called
cabriolets, speedily shortened into cabs. They began
modestly with twelve, and in 1831 had increased to
one hundred and sixty-five. They were somewhat
peculiar, as the driver sat by the side of his fare,
although not with him, and the possibility of the
coachman seeing the amount he was to be given,
and the chance of his upsetting his passenger in case
it did not meet his expectations, is humorously
described in Pickwick.
 On December 23, 1834, Joseph Aloysius Hansom,
an architect, took out a patent, No. 6733, for "a
vehicle for conveying loads, etc.," and from that time
to this his name has been inseparably connected in
England with cabs. Not that his cab was like the
present "hansom," which is a product of much
evolution. There was no back seat for the driver, and
its "safety" consisted in its cranked axle. He sold his
rights to a company for £10,000, but never got a
penny piece of it. The only money he ever got out of
it was £300, which, when the company had got into
a muddle, was paid him to take temporary
management and put things straight again.
 Thanks to Mr. John Macadam, whose system of
using broken stones is still adopted, the country
roads were very much improved. He, unlike Hansom,
received £10,000 from Parliament, and was
appointed Surveyor-General of the Metropolitan
roads in 1827. He died in 1836.

In describing travelling in England during this

reign, I cannot do better than quote from Baron
d'Haussez, because a foreigner looks upon things
with a far more critical eye than a native, who is
always used to them. Says he—
"The taste for travelling, an expensive taste in any country,
is truly a ruinous one in England. If the means of satisfying it
are numerous, and accompanied by all that can promote
pleasure, one is steeled against this seductive consolation by
the perpetual warning of a speedily drained purse.

"Posting, placed on a totally different footing from that

service in the rest of Europe, is not the object of an exclusive
privilege. By means of a licence, which cannot be refused,
relays of post-horses are established according to the caprice
or will of those who possess them. The rivalry arising from
this practice does not lower the price of posting, which,
London excepted, is nearly the same on all roads, and differs
but little from the price of relays in France. The number of
horses is always fixed at two or four, without regard to the
number of travellers, or to the form or weight of the
carriages. When you desire a post-chaise, the innkeeper is
obliged to furnish it, without your paying an additional price.
These chaises, in the shape of our coupés, are well hung, and
very clean and commodious.

"England has not, as we find in France, a breed of horses

specially appropriated to posting. The greater part of the
post-horses in England are hunters or carriage-horses, which,
having become unfit for either of these purposes, wear out
the remnant of their strength in post-chaises, before they are
transferred to hackney coaches and waggons. Their speed
answers in a great degree to what one would expect from
their breed. You travel at the rate of eight or nine miles an
hour (about three and a half leagues), which includes the
time of changing horses.

"The height of the postillions (always chosen among the

smallest men), and their dress, consisting of a jacket, short
breeches, and half boots, are calculated with a view to reduce
to the smallest possible compass the burden of the horses.
There is no difference between the town harness and that
which is kept for posting. They are both in excellent
condition.

"The mail coaches destined for the transport of letters are

carriages with four inside and six outside places. Behind the
coach the guard is seated, with a blunderbuss and a pair of
pistols before him. These coaches travel at the rate of ten
miles, or four leagues an hour; but their small size (for the
English, in general tall and thick, appear to have little regard
to their personal proportions in the size of their carriages),
and the short time they stop to refresh, render them very
unpleasant modes of conveyance.

"Stage coaches are very elegant carriages, built to carry

fifteen or eighteen travellers, and a considerable weight in
packets, but on admirable roads. This is an indispensable
condition. Without it, the height of the carriages, the
arrangement of the whole of the luggage on the imperial, and
the lightness of the body and the axletree, would give rise to
frequent accidents.

"The inside of the coach contains only four places. The seat
of the coachman, and another seat placed immediately
behind it, admit of six persons, and two seats facing each
other, at the hind wheels, afford places for six or eight more.
These seats are fixed over boots or boxes for stowing away
the luggage. Such parcels as these cannot contain are placed
on the imperial.

"The desire to breathe the fresh air, rather than economical

considerations, induce even the richest English to give a
preference to outside places. They only go inside when
compelled by bad weather. The place most in request—one
knows not wherefore—is to the left of the coachman; it is
considered as the place of honour, and is reserved for
fashionables, and even for lords, who do not disdain to travel
thus. The sole advantages, which such a station appeared to
me to present, were the being placed near a well-dressed
coachman, and the escaping the chance of travelling by the
side of a butcher, a shoemaker, or some other individual of
that class. Each time the coachman descends from his box,
his neighbour has the advantage of being made the forced
depositary of his reins and whip. These are placed in your
hands, as they are taken out of them again, without the least
ceremony.

"The appointments of an English coach are no less elegant

than its form. A portly looking coachman seated on a very
high coach-box, well dressed, wearing white gloves, a
nosegay in his button-hole, and his chin enveloped in an
enormous cravat, drives four horses perfectly matched and
harnessed, and as carefully groomed as when they excited
admiration in the carriages of Grosvenor and Berkeley
Squares. Such is the manner in which English horses are
managed, such, also, is their docility, the effect either of
temperament or training, that you do not remark the least
restiveness in them. Four-horse coaches are to be seen
rapidly traversing the most populous streets of London,
without occasioning the least accident, without being at all
inconvenienced in the midst of the numerous carriages, which
hardly leave the necessary space to pass. The swearing of
ostlers is never heard at the relays, any more than the
neighing of horses; nor are you interrupted on the road by
the voice of the coachman, or the sound of his whip, which
differs only from a cabriolet whip in the length of the thong,
and serves as a sort of appendage, rather than a means of
correction in the hand which carries it. In England, where
everything is so well arranged, where each person knows so
well how to confine himself to the exigencies of his proper
position, the horses do better what they have to do than the
horses of other countries, and that, too, without the need of a
brutal correction. One may travel from one end of England to
the other without hearing the sound of a whip, or the
hallooing of conductors, which in France fall so disagreeably
on the ears of travellers.

"Among the wonders of English civilization, the inns should

be mentioned. In many of the larger towns they are
magnificent, and they are good and well supplied in the
smallest. In the greater part of them the servants are in
livery, and in all their attendance is prompt and respectful. On
their arrival, travellers are received by the master of the
house, whose decent dress indicates a respectful feeling
towards strangers. Introduced into a well-heated, well-
furnished room, they have never to wait for a meal, the
simplicity of which, in the way of cookery, is atoned for by the
elegance, often the richness, of the plate and ware, and the
superior quality of the meat. A sleeping-room, as comfortable
as this kind of apartment (so neglected in England) can be,
completes the agrément of your sojourn. Your discontent
does not commence till the exorbitant bill proves that such
attentions, far from being disinterested, are, on the contrary,
dearly charged for. Seldom do you separate from your host
with a reciprocation of politeness. Yet, notwithstanding the
coldness with which his attentions are received, the landlord
does not cease to remain by the side of the traveller till his
carriage is in motion."
 With regard to the London hotels, travellers by the
coaches generally stopped where they stopped, and
were very fairly treated. Of course, there was none
of the palatial magnificence of the modern hotel, but
there was an amount of homely comfort to which the
people of those days were accustomed. The West
End hotels, save those for awful swells, were about
Covent Garden, and Morley's Hotel at Charing Cross
was one of the best. The first monster hotel in
London was the Great Western, and its financial
success led the way to the palaces that now adorn
our West End thoroughfare.

There is an amusing anecdote re "Mine Host"

given in the New Sporting Magazine, and quoted in
the Times of March 27, 1835—
"Innkeeper's Ways.

"I will conclude with a story told me the other day, by a

Kentish gentleman, of an innkeeper's 'ways' on the Dover
Road. Two gentlemen having dined and stayed all night,
called for the bill in the morning, and one of them happened
to be within earshot when the waiter went to the landlord to
have it made out, and overheard the following colloquy:
Waiter: 'Please, sir, the gemmen in No. 5 wants their bill.'—
Landlord: 'Very well' (taking down a printed form), 'let me
hear what they had.'—Waiter: 'Soup, sir.'—Landlord: 'Soup;
very well; what sort was it?'—Waiter: 'Mock turtle.'—Landlord:
'Mock turtle, 3s. Did they make any remark about it?'—
Waiter: 'No, sir; only one of them said it was werry good.'—
 Landlord: 'Did they eat of it twice?'—Waiter: 'Yes, sir.'—
Landlord: 'Oh, then, mock turtle, 5s.; now go on.'—Waiter:
'Fried sole and shrimp sauce.'—Landlord: 'Fried sole, 2s.;
shrimp sauce, 1s.; 3s. Did they make any remark about
that?'—Waiter: 'One of them said that the fish was werry
fresh.—Landlord: 'Indeed! then, fried sole, 3s.; shrimp sauce,
1s. 6d.; 4s. 6d. Now go on.'—Waiter: 'Small leg of Welsh
mutton, potatoes, and French beans.'—Landlord: 'Mutton,
5s.; potatoes, 1s.; French beans, 5s.; rather early for French
beans, isn't it?'—Waiter: 'Yes, sir; both the gemmen remarked
that it was werry early.'—Landlord: 'Oh, then, French beans,
10s.'"

Of the coaching hotels enough has been written

from Smollett's time, or before, to date; and, as for
their number, any visitor to Barnet can judge, by
those that remain, several having been made to
serve other purposes. This was the first change out
of London, on the great North Road, and even I
remember fifteen coaches running each way, and the
last one being run off. I think it was either the Luton
Coach or the Bedford Times.
 CHAPTER XXVI.

Steam carriages on roads — Commission thereon — Steam omnibus — Railways —

A nuisance — Railways started during the reign — Opening of the Greenwich
Railway.

But the road was not monopolized by horseflesh.

Steam was asserting itself, and many were the trials
of steam carriages on the turnpike roads. In 1821 Mr.
Julius Griffith invented, and Messrs. Bramah
manufactured, a carriage, on which the engineer sat
in front, and two directors or steersmen behind, in
vehicles separated from the carriage, which swung
easily on a variety of springs fastened into a strong
connecting frame. The error of this invention lay in
the boiler, which consisted of 114 tubes. These,
unfortunately, would not always contain the water;
and, when empty, they became so heated, that no
force-pump could inject the water. In 1822, 1824,
and 1825, Mr. David Gordon tried his hand on steam
carriages and failed. In 1829 Sir James Anderson and
Mr. James constructed one, under the patents
obtained by the latter gentleman in 1824 and 1825,
and are said to have worked the engine at a pressure
of two hundred pounds each square inch of the
piston. In 1827 Mr. Goldsworthy Gurney patented
one, as did also Messrs. Hill and Burstall in 1828.

There was one running in August, 1830, belonging

to Messrs. Summers and Co., which began its
journey by bursting a pipe. This repaired, it utterly
demoralized itself by running into a turnpike gatepost
at Turnham Green, and had to be taken home.
Anyhow they must have become fairly common, for
we read in the Times, May 12, 1831—
"Steam Carriages on Common Roads.

"Some of the advantages to the public from the use of

steam on the turnpike roads already begin to show
themselves. Previous to the starting of the steam coach
between Gloucester and Cheltenham, the fares were four
shillings each person—now the public are taken by all the
coaches at one shilling per head. On Tuesday morning the
steam coach took thirty-three passengers from Cheltenham to
Gloucester in fifty minutes."

Again, Times, June 7, 1831, quoting the Glasgow

Chronicle, says—
"Mr. Gurney's[22] steam carriage was, on Wednesday night,
blown to pieces by an explosion of the boiler. The catastrophe
occurred in the square of the cavalry barracks, where the
carriage was exhibiting. It had gone round the square several
times, and stopped at one corner of it, where some people
got out. Two boys, sons of Mr. Maclure, of the Port Eglinton
 Inn, at that time entered, and were about to be followed by
two gentlemen, when the boiler burst with a tremendous
explosion, and shattered the vehicle into numberless pieces.
The two boys were very seriously injured in the face and
other parts of the body, and they now lie in very precarious
circumstances."

The road steam carriage was such a novelty, that

people hardly knew what to make of it, so a Select
Committee of the House of Commons upon it was
appointed, who reported thereon to the House on
October 12, 1831. The conclusion of the report was
as follows:—
"Sufficient evidence has been adduced to convince your
Committee—

"1. That carriages can be propelled by steam on common

roads at an average rate of ten miles per hour.

"2. That at this rate they have conveyed upwards of

fourteen passengers.

"3. That their weight, including engine, fuel, water, and

attendants, may be under three tons.

"4. That they can ascend and descend hills of considerable

inclination with facility and safety.

"5. That they are perfectly safe for passengers.

"6. That they are not (or need not be, if properly
constructed) nuisances to the public.
 "7. That they will become a speedier and cheaper mode of
conveyance than carriages drawn by horses.

"8. That, as they admit of greater breadth of tire than other

carriages, and as the roads are not acted on so injuriously as
by the feet of horses in common draught, such carriages will
cause less wear of roads than coaches drawn by horses.

"9. That rates of toll have been imposed on steam carriages

which would prohibit their being used on several lines of road,
were such charges permitted to remain unaltered."

On August 20, 1832, we hear of a steam carriage,

constructed by a Mr. Hancock, intending to make an
experimental trip to Windsor, and coming to grief at
Dachet. In November and December of the same
year we learn that a steam carriage, constructed by
Captain Macirone and Mr. Squire, was running about
Paddington, and that "the jolting was not much
greater than an ordinary stage coach." In the Times
of April 25, 1833, we read of a
"Steam Omnibus.

"Monday afternoon an omnibus, worked by steam on a new

and ingenious principle, was tried on the Paddington Road.
The machine altogether does not exceed the space which an
ordinary omnibus, with horses attached, would occupy, and
the appearance is particularly neat. The body is capable of
containing fourteen persons, the engine dividing that from the
furnace in the rear. The passengers experience no
inconvenience from heat, and, coke being the fuel employed,
there is no annoyance from smoke. The engine works on a
 crank, not on an axle, and the propelling power is applied to
the wheels by means of iron chains. The chief
recommendation, that which timid persons will consider most,
is that there can be no possibility of explosion. The propelling
power is equal to fifteen or twenty miles an hour; but, even
when the steam is raised to its very highest pressure, there is
no risk, the water being deposited in several iron pipes, or
what are termed chamber boilers, with a valve to carry off the
superfluous steam. The guide, who sits in front, has complete
control of the vehicle, and can arrest its progress
instantaneously. It is intended to ply regularly from
Paddington to the Bank."

Captain Macirone's steam carriage was repeatedly

noticed by the Press, and in 1834 there is an
advertisement of a company to work Dr. Church's
steam carriage; but all the schemes came to nought.

When William IV. came to the throne there were

practically no railways for passenger traffic; and it
was during his reign that nearly all the main lines in
England were projected. I now marvel at their having
attained so rapid a popularity, for the travelling was
very uncomfortable. The idea of a stage coach was
very difficult to get rid of, and the carriages were
subdivided so as to represent it as much as possible
—even their outsides were modelled, as far as could
be, to look like a coach, and to this day a train is, in
railway parlance, made up of so many coaches. The
first class were padded and cushioned, but were very
stuffy, having small windows; the second class were
of plain painted wood, narrow seats, no room for
one's legs, and very small windows; in the third class
there were no seats, it was simply a cattle truck in
which every one stood up, and as there was no roof,
it was rather lively travelling in wet weather.

Railways were soon considered as a nuisance to

the public, and on March 30th, at York, an action of
Rex v. Pease and others was tried. It was an
indictment for a nuisance against the Stockton and
Darlington Railway Company, which was opened on
September 27, 1825. By an Act of Parliament, passed
in 1821, the defendants were authorized to form a
railway from Darlington to Sunderland, and, by
another Act passed in 1823, they were authorized to
use locomotive engines thereon. The railway which,
it was agreed, had been formed upon the line
pointed out in the Act of Parliament, was opened for
public use in 1825. Only one steam engine was at
first used; but the number gradually increased till
there were seven in operation. This increase had
been rendered necessary by the increasing business
on the railway.

For about a mile and three-quarters the railway

runs in a parallel line with the high-road leading from
Yarm to Stockton, the two roads being at an average
distance from each other of fifty yards. The nuisance
complained of was the fright and danger which the
noise and the smoke of the steam engines
occasioned to passengers on this part of the
highway. A variety of witnesses proved that accidents
frequently happened in consequence of horses taking
fright at the steam engine. Counsel for the railway
stated that he was willing to admit that his clients
had been guilty of a nuisance, unless their conduct
was justified by the Act of Parliament, according to
the directions of which, the railway had been formed,
and the steam engines used. He suggested,
therefore, that the best mode would be for the jury
to return a special verdict, finding the facts already
proved, and also that the defendants had used the
best engines they could procure, and availed
themselves of every improvement offered. The
counsel for the prosecution, after some deliberation,
agreed to the proposal, and a nominal verdict of
guilty was recorded.

The first railway opened in this reign was in 1830,

the Liverpool and Manchester, which melancholy
event has already been noticed. In December, 1831,
was opened that between Dundee and Newtyle. In
1833 the following railways were projected. The
London and Bristol (G.W.R.), London and
Southampton (L. & S.W.R.), London and Birmingham
(L. &. N.W.R), London and Brighton, and London and
Greenwich; in 1834 the Great Northern Railway; in
1835 the Eastern Counties Railway (G.E.R.), and the
Commercial or Blackwall Railway. The other railways
opened for traffic were the Leeds and Selby,
September 22, 1834; Dublin and Kingdown on
December 17, 1834; London and Greenwich,
December 14, 1836, and Liverpool and Birmingham,
July 4, 1837. Besides these there were many others
projected, some of which came to nought. Take, for
instance, one column of advertisements (p. 2, c. 5,
Times, April 18, 1836)—South Western Railway,
Padstow Breakwater, and Rock Delabole, Camelford,
Callington, and Plymouth Railway, South London
Union Railway, Bristol and Gloucestershire Railway,
Margate and Ramsgate Railway, Ramsgate,
Canterbury, Sandwich, Deal and Dover Railway,
Gloucester and Hereford Railway, Harwich Railway,
Westminster and Deptford Railway, and the Great
Central Irish Railway.

In fact, the satire in John Bull of April 9, 1836, was

not altogether undeserved—
"There is always a clown in a pantomime who knocks his
head against a door, and tumbles on his nether end, and
grins and distorts his limbs, and does, in short, a thousand
feats to make the ridiculous performance more ridiculous still.
In the pantomime of railroads, in which the tricks are
innumerable, there is a clown, one so supereminently
ridiculous, that if Grimaldi were still young and active enough
to wear his blue tuft and wafer-dotted unmentionables, he
would be jealous. The scheme to which we allude is one
called by the sounding name of an International Railway—
London, Paris, and Brussels, by Dover and Calais; and there
are blanks left in the prospectus (and likely to be left) for the
names of French patrons and Belgian patrons, and provincial
directors, and all the rest of it; and the beginning of the
suggestion is, that people are to go to Croydon in the first
instance, as the shortest way to Belgium. Croydon seems an
odd starting-point for Brussels; however, the prospectus infers
that London has something to do with it; how much, we may
venture to guess, by finding that the railroad communication
with London is disavowed before the committee to whom the
Bill is referred. As to Brussels and Paris, they will come, of
course, when once the sea is crossed; but we must say that
the Grimaldi railway, which renders it necessary to proceed by
the old mode of travelling to Croydon in order to be steamed
to Brussels, is very like paying a shilling to be rattled in an
omnibus from London to a field in Bermondsey marsh, in
order to climb up a flight of stairs to be rattled along the
railroad at Deptford, at which place the traveller is suddenly
ejected, his object being Greenwich (after which town the
absurdity is delusively named), which it neither does, nor,
thanks to the wisdom of Parliament, ever will reach; so that,
what with the coloured hearse through the City, before you
get to the starting-place in the bog, the climb upstairs, and
the wearisome walk through the mud of the Lower Road to
Greenwich, after you come down again, you would save
exactly six pennies and three-quarters of an hour if you
stepped into a fast-going coach at the Shoulder of Mutton or
the Salopian at Charing Cross, and went slap bang to
Greenwich itself, for the trifling charge of one shilling. This is
absurd for a short affair and a matter of joke; but the railroad
 from Croydon to Brussels, for a serious concern and a long
business, 'beats Bannagher,' as Mr. O'Connell says."

The Greenwich Railway referred to was opened by

the Lord Mayor and civic authorities, on December
14, 1836, but only as far as Deptford; and the whole
affair seems to have been a muddle. The Times of
December 15 says—
"On the arrival of the several trains at Deptford the
occupants of the carriages were allowed to get out; but here
the arrangements fell far short of what we expected, for no
preparation was made for their return. Many who had got out
in the hopes of being present at the presentation to the Lord
Mayor, and others who wished to regale themselves at some
of the neighbouring inns at Deptford, could not, from the
density of the crowds below the railway, get out; and, on
retracing their steps to the railway, they found it a work of
still greater difficulty and danger to return to the carriages
from which they had alighted. Many who had taken the
precaution to notice the name of the engine which drew the
train, and the number of the carriage which brought them
down, got back in the line between two trains, but were told
by the conductors that they could not return by that way
without great risk, for that the trains would return
immediately. In consequence of this, many persons who came
down by the trains went on to Deptford, and thence to town
by the coaches."
 CHAPTER XXVII.

Cases of wife selling — Duelling — Cases of — O'Connell and D'Israeli — Other

duels.

There were two amusements somewhat

fashionable in this reign, wife selling and duelling.
The former is still in existence, the latter is extinct in
England. The halter round the neck was used when
the wife was sold at market, it being considered that,
being thus accoutred, she was on a level with the
cattle, and thus could be legally sold. Here is a ballad
of the period thereon.
 "Sale of a Wife.

"Attend to my ditty, you frolicsome folk,

I'll tell you a story—a comical joke;
'Tis a positive fact, what I'm going to unfold,
Concerning a woman who by auction was sold.

Chorus.

Then long may he flourish, and prosper through life,

The sailor that purchased the carpenter's wife.

"A carpenter lived not a mile off from here,

Being a little, or rather, too fond of his beer;
Being hard up for brass—it is true, on my life,
For ten shillings, by auction, he sold off his wife.

"The husband and wife they could never agree,

For he was too fond of going out on the spree;
They settled the matter, without more delay,
So, tied in a halter, he took her away.

"He sent round the bell-man, announcing the sale,

All in the hay-market, and that without fail;
The auctioneer came, with his hammer so smart,
And the carpenter's wife stood up in a cart.
"Now she was put up without grumble or frown,
The first bid was a tailor, that bid half a crown;
Says he, 'I will make her a lady so spruce,
And fatten her well upon cabbage and goose.'[23]

"'Five and sixpence three farthings,' a butcher then said,

'Six and ten,' said a barber, with his curly head;
Then up jump'd a cobbler, said he, 'In three cracks,
I'll give you nine shillings and two balls of wax.'

"'Just look at her beauty,' the auctioneer cries;

'She's mighty good-tempered, and sober likewise.'
'Damme,' said a sailor, 'she's three out of four,
Ten shillings I bid for her, not a screw more.'

"'Thank you, sir, thank you,' said the bold auctioneer,

'Going for ten. Is there nobody here
Will bid any more? Is not this a bad job?
Going! Going! I say—she's gone for ten bob.'

"The hammer was struck; that concluded the sale,

The sailor he paid down the brass on the nail;
He shook hands with Betsy, and gave her a smack,
And she jumped straddle-legs on to his back.

"The people all relished the joke, it appears,

And gave the young sailor three hearty good cheers;
He never cried stop, with his darling so sweet,
Until he was landed in Denison Street.

"They sent for fiddler and piper to play,

They danced and they sung, till the break of day;
Then Jack to his hammock with Betsy did go,
While the fiddler and piper played 'Rosin, the beau.'"
 I have eleven cases of wife selling in this reign,
copied from the Times, and I have no doubt I have
overlooked some more. The first is—
"Selling a Wife.

"The following memorandum (says the Stockport

Advertiser), drawn upon a 1s. 6d. stamp, will best explain the
nature of a bargain between two fellows at a beer shop, in
the Hillgate, in this town. Milward is a butcher, and was last
week fined before our magistrates for using uneven balances
in his trading transactions. The other persons are unknown to
us:—

"'I, Booth Milward, bought of William Clayton, his wife, for

five shillings, to be delivered on the 25th of March, 1831, to
be delivered in a alter at Mr. John Lomases house.

"'William Clayton.
"'Witnesses: Joseph Gordon, G. Wood, George Whalley.'"

The next is from the Times, February 25, 1832—

"Buying and Selling Wives.

"In an evening paper we find the following story: 'A most

disgusting and disgraceful scene happened in Smithfield
Market on Monday last, which at the present day is of very
rare occurrence. About two o'clock in the afternoon a fellow
came into the market leading his wife by a halter, and gave
her to a drover, desiring him to tie her to the pens and sell
her to the best bidder. The woman, who did not appear to be
above twenty-five years of age, and not bad looking, suffered
herself to be tied up very quietly. A crowd of persons soon
gathered round, and a man of rather respectable appearance
 entered into a negotiation with the drover for the purchase of
the wife; and, after some higgling, she was finally knocked
down to him for the sum of ten shillings. The money was
paid, but the drover refused to release her except on
payment of two shillings as his commission for the sale which
he had effected. Some confusion took place about the
demand, but it was eventually paid, and she was released
from the pens, opposite the Half Moon public house, and
delivered to her purchaser, who appeared highly pleased with
his bargain. The parties adjourned to a neighbouring public
house, where the late husband spent the greater part of the
money in brandy and water.'"

The following is from the Times of April 26, 1832

(from the Lancaster Herald), and is somewhat out of
the common run of these affairs:—
"Sale of a Wife by her Husband at Carlyle.

"On Saturday, the 7th instant, the inhabitants of this city

witnessed the sale of a wife by her husband, Joseph
Thompson, who resides in a small village about three miles
from this city. He rents a farm of about forty-two or forty-four
acres, and was married at Hexham in the year 1829 to his
present wife. She is a spruce, lively, and buxom damsel,
apparently not exceeding twenty-two years of age, and
appeared to feel a pleasure at the exchange she was about to
make. They had no children during their union, and that,
together with some family disputes, caused them by mutual
agreement to come to the resolution of finally parting.
Accordingly the bellman was sent round to give public notice
of the sale, which was to take place at twelve o'clock. This
announcement attracted the notice of thousands. She
appeared above the crowd, standing on a large oak chair,
surrounded by many of her friends, with a rope or halter
made of straw about her neck. She was dressed in rather a
fashionable country style, and appeared to some advantage.
The husband, who was also standing in an elevated position
near her, proceeded to put her up for sale, and spoke nearly
as follows:—

"'Gentlemen, I have to offer to your notice my wife, Mary

Ann Thompson, otherwise Williamson, whom I mean to sell to
the highest and fairest bidder. Gentlemen, it is her wish, as
well as mine to part for ever. She has been to me only a
bosom serpent. I took her for my comfort and the good of my
house, but she became my tormentor, a domestic curse, a
night invasion, and a daily devil. (Great laughter.) Gentlemen,
I speak truth from my heart when I say, "May God deliver us
from troublesome wives and frolicsome widows!" Avoid them
as you would a mad dog, a roaring lion, a loaded pistol,
cholera morbus, Mount Etna, or any other pestilential
phenomena in nature.

"Now I have shown you the dark side of my wife, and told
you her faults and her failings, I will introduce the bright and
sunny side of her, and explain her qualifications and her
goodness. She can read novels and milk cows; she can laugh
and weep with the same ease that you can take a glass of ale
when thirsty; indeed, gentlemen, she reminds me of what the
poet says of women in general—

"'Heaven gave to women the peculiar grace,

To laugh, to weep, to cheat the human race.'

"She can make butter and scold the maid; she can sing
Moore's Melodies, and plait her frills and caps; she cannot
make rum, gin, or whisky, but she is a good judge of the
quality from long experience in tasting them. I therefore offer
her, with all her perfections and imperfections, for the sum of
50s.
 "After an hour or two, she was purchased by Henry Mears,
a pensioner, for the sum of 20s. and a Newfoundland dog.
The happy people immediately left town together, amidst the
shouts and huzzas of the multitude, in which they were joined
by Thompson, who, with the greatest good humour
imaginable, proceeded to put the halter which his wife had
taken off round the neck of his Newfoundland dog, and then
proceeded to the first public-house, where he spent the
remainder of the day."

In the Times of March 25, 1833, is the following:—

"A grinder, named Calton, sold his wife publicly in the
market place, Stockport, last Monday week. She was
purchased by a shopmate of her husband for a gallon of beer!
The fair one, who had a halter round her neck, seemed quite
agreeable.—Blackburn Gazette."

The Times of May 24th, 1834, quoting the Paisley

Advertiser, says—
"Sale of a Wife.

"Monday night a party of doughty neighbours met in a

house in New Sneddon to enjoy a tankard or two of reaming
swats, and to decide by which of the rival 'best possible
instructors' they were, henceforth, to be enlightened. In the
course of the discussion, one of them announced his intention
of setting up a dram shop, and stated that there was only one
article wanting. 'What was that?' 'A wife!' 'A wife!' exclaimed
the host—whose name is as the name of the upper part of
the garment in which the humble daughters of St. Mirren
delight to conceal their beauties—'I will sell you mine for
twenty pounds Scots.' Some higgling took place, in the course
of which the virtues of the wife shone out with such
conspicuous lustre that her price was raised to twenty pounds
sterling. This sum the purchaser agreed to pay, a contract
was drawn out, and signed by three witnesses, the conditions
of sale being that the money was to be tabled, and the
transfer completed by next day, at noon.

"Next day came, and found the seller, the purchaser, and
their witnesses once more assembled, discussing at once the
terms of agreement and a can of grog. Some of the witnesses
seemed to think that the joke was carried far enough, and
proposed that the whole proceedings should be nullified on
the host forfeiting £1, to be 'melted,' in the house; but the
host was too well up to trap to be wheedled out of his £20,
and saddled with his wife to boot; he therefore persisted in
the fulfilment of the contract, and, as the purchaser was
equally averse to a rue bargain, arrangements were put in
operation to complete the transaction.

"Meanwhile, the wife, whose good qualities may be judged

of by the great rise which took place in her price, while the
terms were under discussion, got a hint of the negotiations
that were pending, and, being a good deal nettled that her
opinion should not have been asked in an affair in which she
was so nearly concerned, sallied out to a neighbouring court,
known by the name of 'Little Ireland,' and sounded the tocsin
of alarm. A much smaller matter than the sale of a wife was
enough to agitate 'Little Ireland.' With ire akin to that which
animated the bosom of 'Cutty Sark' and her compeers, as
they sallied out of Alloway Kirk to avenge themselves on Tam
o'Shanter and his mare Meg, sallied out the daughters of
Little Ireland to avenge the insult thus offered to one of the
best half of creation. Every damsel who could wag a tongue—
mercy on us, how numerous a class!—every one who could
wield a poker, fender, or pair of tongs, flew to arms, and
resolved on a simultaneous attack; while the high contracting
 parties, and their assistant negotiators were within, discussing
terms, wholly ignorant of the storm that was brewing around
them. How the victory would have gone it is no way difficult
to predict; but before active hostilities commenced, the police
arrived, and conveyed the negotiators to the office, where
they were detained until the vast crowds which had collected
had dispersed, and until security had been given that
appearance would be made next day. There the whole party
were brought before the magistrates, and looked exceedingly
foolish on the occasion. No such an affair as the sale of a wife
seems ever to have been heard of in these northern latitudes,
and, as the fiscal knew from the parricide case of old, that to
prescribe a punishment for a crime was a powerful means to
get the crime introduced, he resolved not to be privy to such
a doing, and, therefore, restricted his charge to a breach of
the peace. The magistrate did not find that a breach of the
peace could be brought home to the parties; and, after
animadverting in severe terms on the disgraceful nature of
such proceedings, and addressing the salesman and
purchaser in terms which, we dare say, they will not soon
forget, he dismissed them from the bar. The purchaser, who is
verging on three score years and ten, seemed to have come
into court predetermined to appeal, and declared that a
bargain was a bargain; but, with the whisky still buzzing in his
head, he appealed at a wrong time, and tabled his shilling
before the sentence of dismissal was pronounced."

The lady got the best of it on another occasion,

according to the Halifax Express, quoted in the Times
of April 4, 1836—
"On Wednesday, May Day Green, Barnsley, was the scene
of an extraordinary encounter. A woman beat her husband on
the face till the blood flew about; he, in turn, sent the
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